Posted on 03/30/2017 4:51:28 AM PDT by SJackson
The City of New Orleans, the train immortalized in the Steve Goodman song, could disappear under President Donald Trump's preliminary budget blueprint.
So could the California Zephyr, the Empire Builder and other storied long-distance Amtrak runs, along with the federal funding that could replace Metra's out-of-date rolling stock, unclog Chicago freight traffic and extend the CTA's Red Line from 95th Street to 130th Street, according to transit advocates and officials.
Trump's 2018 "skinny budget" proposes a 13 percent cut on federal funding for transportation, which is directed entirely against nonroad spending. Trump's 2018 spending plan will start getting more attention in Congress since the bill to replace the Affordable Care Act has been pulled for lack of votes. A full budget release is expected in May.
The president's transportation budget proposal may ultimately get no further than did the Republican health care bill. But the transit cuts laid out in the proposal are still worrying local transit advocates and agency officials, since they show the administration's priorities.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
I think trains have their place and I would love to see rail service that competed with air. But unless they get off the dole they will never reach their potential.
Trains will not die any more then freighters did, there is a place where they both turn a profit and that is in goods transportation.
I don't think water and rail are currently viable ways of moving passengers around. Although I would wish they were.
Paging the ghost of Willie Green
Paging the ghost of Willie Green
(A Happy Choo Choo Thread nostalgia ping)
Could someone explain to me why a small town Oklahoma boy should pay for a train extension for a suburban commuter?
2 important things not mentioned:
1) There is not a single public transportation system in the US that even breaks even. They all lose money.
2) Private passenger trains were killed by lawsuits and regulations years ago.
The government shouldn’t fund these hemorrhaging projects. Kill them all now and save our tax dollars.
The Amtrak trains in the northeast are all booked solid every day. I just booked a train from Boston to D.C. for $158 round trip, so it is not a cost problem. The present system cannot add anymore intercity trains, not enough room on the tracks. Most of the choke points are bridges and tunnels.
Yeah, that’s useful. Typical.
And further, a dedicated busway would have made more sense and been hugely cheaper.
Autonomous cars are likely to really make transit like that even more obsolete.
If Chicago is a sanctuary city, its funding should be reduced to zero. State funding should also be stripped as well.
I fail to see the problem, here. Looks a lot like Trump doing what he was elected to do. Looks a lot like Trump pursuing the best interests of his boss “We the People”. Tiny Dancer can pound sand.
Trump could cut more government grants. The new rail system in Austin, TX is ridiculous. “System” is their word for a single line running north and south from north of the city to downtown. Nothing east, west or south of downtown. An hour just to get to downtown?!? It take two to three times longer to get to the end of the line and then you still have to catch a bus or taxi to get you to your destination. In the evenings, you see empty cars. They just bought more cars from Sweden but claim they must test them for THREE YEARS before they go into service. But it makes the treehuggers happy and that’s all that matters.
Apparently, these cities will have to pay their own bills. They have been stealing money from the Red states far too long.
I’m sure the horse buggy makers at the turn of the century were hurting as well.
Just let them use bicycles in Chicago and New Orleans. It works in Tokyo, it will work there.
Crank off a little of that fatso meme.
Trump Skinny Budget would starve Chicago Transit.
YEAH!
Trump Skinny Budget would starve New Orleans Train.
YEAH!
Trump Skinny Budget would starve Food Stamps for Poor Children
YEAH!
Trump Skinny Budget would starve Big Bird.
YEAH!
Trump Skinny Budget would starve Health Care for Veterans.
YEAH!
Trump Skinny Budget would starve The Statue of Liberty.
YEAH!
Trump Skinny Budget would starve National Defense.
YEAH!
Trump Skinny Budget would starve Silky Bunnies and Cute Puppies.
YEAH!
There is no thing that you can put the words “Trump Skinny Budget would starve” in front of that will elicit any response other than “YEAH!”
If we must throw out the baby with the bathwater, I say let’s git throwing!
There are 25 trains every 24 hours between the two cities so you have maximum flexibility in choosing your itinerary. In fact, more people take the train between the two cities than fly, a feat that I doubt is copied anywhere else in the country. I would never think of flying between the two cities and the trains are often packed, no matter the day or time.
I'm sure there is waste in Amtrak's organization and I know that John McCain has tried for years and years to cut Amtrak's funding entirely or a good chunk. However, I am mixed about it, but there is value in having a nationwide rail system, but agree there is featherbedding and other issues with Amtrak. If these issues can be addressed, it would be interesting to see how Amtrak looked.
According to the Amtrak timetable, the route of the City of New Orleans is 934 miles long. The southbound travel time (including intermediate station stops)is 19 hours 27 minutes; the northbound travel time is 19 hours 15 minutes. Thus, trains travel at an average speed (again, this includes station “dwell time”) of 48 miles per hour.
I haven’t ridden this line, but I’ve ridden others, and one of the biggest problems is that most of the routes are single-tracked; that is, there’s only one track, with occasional passing sidings, for bi-directional operation of passenger and freight trains. Imagine having to drive a long distance on a one-lane road, with flagmen alternating the traffic, and you get an idea of how slow, unreliable, and frustrating it can be to have to use a single-track railroad.
If Amtrak’s lines were double-tracked, the trains could go much faster, and not be subject to frequent delays while waiting for an oncoming freight train to go by. (It’s akin to the difference between driving on a one-lane road with two-way traffic versus driving on a divided highway.) The rail system could then become a practical alternative for intermediate distance trips, and maybe even justify its expense.
Fact is, the interstate highways in the northeastern quadrant of the country and along the West Coast are overcrowded and getting worse. It may end up being more economical to create a train system that actually works, and syphoning off some of the traffic from the roads, than expanding the highway system to keep pace with demand.
That’s so last century.
A budget with a $430 Billion’ish deficit is a “skinny budget”?!?!?! What would they call a balanced budget?
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