[TurboZamboni]

Funding for Amtrak and other passenger-rail options remains a difficult subject at both the state and federal levels. Ramsey County's renovation of the 1920s-era Union Depot cost $243 million, roughly half of which came from the federal government.

Amtrak carried a record 31.6 million passengers last year, including a record 15.4 million on state-supported corridors. Ticket revenue reached a record $2.1 billion. The quasi-private national carrier nevertheless relies on roughly $1 billion in annual federal funding for new trains, track and operations, on top of growing state contributions.

[DManA]

A bridge to the 19th century.

[reg45]

Seventy minutes late - low speed rail!

[Tupelo]

“The first train, the westbound Empire Builder from Chicago, arrived at 11:13 p.m. — 70 minutes late — en route to Seattle and Portland, Ore.”

Guaranteed to be the money line in this one.
And I did not read the entire article.

[ExCTCitizen]

Amtrak is a great way to see the USA. Tomorrow is National Train Day and you should visit your local train station. We are going to Union Station to see the trains.

We like trains here, we are thinking of visit family in CT and we are taking the train. Airplanes are becoming problematic with fees and we like see the nation.

[pepsionice]

I rode AMTRAK for the first time in my life....last July. It was a 18-hour trip from DC to Birmingham. Got a cabin, and did the whole grand dining room tour episode. On a scale of one to ten....I’d give it a four. It was pleasant to note the landscape....but the track is unstable and you can’t sleep on any part of the railway in NC or Georgia. The food is marginal but free (because I got the cabin). And the cabin car felt like it was manufactured in the 1970s....with the toilet barely working and nothing really that clean.

So, to the European railway. I travel a good bit, and am very familiar with conditions. I won’t rate anything on the German railway system less than an ‘8’, except the toilet paper which is more like sandpaper. You could easily sleep on any train, and most will run forty to fifty mph. Drinks and food aren’t outrageous like Amtrak. And the train stations in Europe don’t make you feel like you just coasted into the worst part of Memphis on a Friday night.

[mj1234]

yep- 150 Million in local taxpayer money-

BUT- close to 1.2 BILLION-!! yes billion
for an 11 MILE spur to down mpls!

HEY those couple of Hundred taxpayer/union thugs
will have some cushy govt jobs running the Choo-choos

Next a spur to ...? nowhere

[Buckeye McFrog]

so....the train is stopping in St. Paul instead of Minneapolis? Is that big news?

[Freeping Since 2001]

Our beautifully restored building is achieving our vision as a multimodal transit facility and a unique gathering place for people...

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And by diverting gas tax dollars, they bankrupted the highway fund, and Obama is talking about putting tolls on the Interstates.

[dfwgator]

Willie Green rejoices.