Free Republic

Facing a hole in the budget of nearly a half-billion dollars, Metro’s general manager is proposing massive budget cuts to rail and bus service that would take effect this summer. General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said in September that without more federal help, big cuts would be needed. Overall rail ridership is down more than 85% most weekdays, while bus ridership is less than half what it was in 2019. Among the things Wiedefeld is proposing for Metrorail: In addition, Metrobus would also face big cuts. Wiedefeld is proposing only having a total of 41 bus routes. Those routes would be...

A man in Germany has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly loosening bolts on a high-speed railway track. The stretch of track affected was just before a bridge outside Frankfurt. A train driver noticed "something unusual" while crossing the bridge early on Friday. Several trains had already passed over the section before the issue was discovered. Rail operator Deutsche Bahn described the incident as "sabotage". . . . According to German news site Der Spiegel, the rails were five centimetres further apart than usual. This could have caused trains to derail and even send them plunging off...

In the midst of Sunday's presidential debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, Biden blurted out that his campaign's high-speed rail plan would take "millions of automobiles off the road." This is the second debate in which the former vice president brought up the belief that bullet trains will get people out of their cars. This is, to put it mildly, extremely unlikely. Biden's campaign site calls for "the construction of an end-to-end high speed rail system that will connect the coasts, unlocking new, affordable access for every American." Would bullet trains passing through major cities scattered across the U.S....

Amtrak announced Friday it would temporarily suspend its Acela Nonstop trains between Washington and New York beginning March 10 amid concerns about the coronavirus. The company said in a statement that demand for direct routes between the cities has decreased and that nonstop service will be suspended through May 26. "As we are experiencing some reduced demand for our service, we are making temporary adjustments to our schedule, such as removing train cars or cancelling trains when there is a convenient alternative with a similar schedule that will have minimal impact to customers," Amtrak said in a statement. The statement...

Last Friday, Prime Minister Trudeau abruptly reversed himself and demanded that the blockades of rail lines, which have sprung up in various places this month, be cleared. Monday, police in Ontario cleared out one of the larger protest camps, arresting 10 people and clearing the way for trains to resume service. But the protesters werenÂ’t done. Later that night they began throwing burning tires onto the tracks: This was the scene Monday night on the rail lines near Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Police arrested 10 people earlier in the day and cleared out the camp that was set up Feb....

The Old Dominion is trending in an ominous direction, and it’s a problem for the whole country. On Monday, the Virginia General Assembly ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Advocates of the ERA have argued that Virginia is the 38th and final state needed to add it to the Constitution, though the legal argument for that is dubious. Nevertheless, if the ERA were to become law, it would almost certainly provide the legal basis to enshrine left-wing social dogmas nationwide, among other negative consequences. Other states should take note: No matter how conservative your state has been in the past, you’re...

One of the last sentences said by the 44-year-old man struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Longwood Friday was shouted to a friend as the two walked to a neighborhood pub: “Let’s race the train!” Alexander Javier, the 24-year-old friend, made it across the tracks. Todd Keller did not. The Longwood Police Department released details about Keller’s death Wednesday afternoon. According to the incident report, Keller and Javier had been drinking at Connolly’s Pub earlier in the night and had gone to Javier’s apartment for awhile before deciding to head back to the pub. The men were walking...

last year Buffett donated $169 million to the NoVo Foundation, a charity run by his youngest son, Peter, and Peter’s wife, Jennifer. ... Some of the foundation’s resources are directed towards radical activism that clearly benefits Buffett’s bottom line. In fact, money Buffett donated to the NoVo Foundation has been used to attack companies that compete with Berkshire Hathaway's subsidiaries and holdings. ... In 2017, NoVo donated $3.5 million to the “Clean Clothes Campaign” managed by the liberal Tides Foundation.. ... Why would the NoVo Foundation fund a series of crusades focused on ferociously targeting Walmart and Sam’s Club? It...

n a quiet, nondescript building off an interstate in Wilmington, Delaware, the future of America’s high-speed rail is taking shape. Amtrak gave select journalists, including TPG, a chance to tour full-scale mock-ups of the interior of its new high-speed Acela train cars, giving a sneak peek at what passengers will experience when the first cars are rolled out in spring 2021. American’s primary passenger train operator launched the Acela trains in 2000, and this is the first time since then that they are getting a new look and feel. While Amtrak’s Acela fleet currently lags behind high-speed trains in Europe...

Assembly Democrats see greater public value in improving passenger rail from Burbank to Anaheim, relieving congestion on the busy Interstate 5 corridor before the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and putting additional money into San Francisco commuter rail. The proposal has been taken more seriously in recent weeks, and supporters think it will meet the tricky legal requirements of the high-speed rail project. “I like the concept,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood). “Any project that doesn’t have a significant amount of service to the largest areas in the state doesn’t make much sense.”

For the second time, a judge threw out all charges Tuesday against an Amtrak engineer for his role in a high-speed derailment in Philadelphia that killed 8 people, saying: "The law recognizes we're all human."

Why can’t America build or repair infrastructure on a par with countries in Europe or Asia? Why are our bridges, roads, and airports not what they should be? Aren’t we the richest and most technologically savvy country in the world? Who or what is holding us back? Kyle Smith of National Review has the surprising (and frustrating) answer.

Farmers up and down California’s Central Valley are up in arms over the state seizing their land to build its long-awaited high-speed railway and then failing to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars owed them for years. Thanks to an order of possession by the Superior Court, California can take private land through eminent domain for the troubled bullet train project. While landowners are expected to eventually be reimbursed for the property – and for expenses like lost farming production, irrigation replacement projects and road construction – many farmers in California’s agricultural heartland say state officials have offered them...

Former vice president Joe Biden is proposing to restore California’s now-defunct high-speed rail project — just months after Gov. Gavin Newsom pulled the plug, and President Donald Trump pulled the funding. Biden formerly championed high-speed rail with President Barack Obama as part of the 2009 “stimulus” package. Joel Fox, commenting on California’s widely-read Fox & Hounds blog, noted the provision in Biden’s new plan to tackle climate change

The U.S. Interstate Highway System is the backbone of American commerce and personal travel. Funded on a pay-as-you-go basis largely through federal excise taxes on motor fuel, today it accounts for 25% of total vehicle-miles traveled despite accounting for just 2.5% of total road network lane-miles. Yet, much of the Interstate system, construction of which began in the 1950s, is nearing the end of its functional life, along with the infrastructure of other surface transportation modes. Over the next two decades, trillions of dollars of investment will be needed to rehabilitate and in some cases rebuild this infrastructure, according to...

On a recent weekday morning, Liu Ai’jun boarded one of eight daily high-speed rail (HSR) services between Urumqi, capital of China’s north-western Xinjiang region, and Hami, an oasis town 614 kilometers to the east. The trip, along the longest and most expensive line in the country’s HSR network, took just three hours and cost RMB 167 ($24). Previously Liu, a self-employed elevator salesman and technician, used to rely on infrequent and expensive flights between the two cities. Before the new HSR line was completed in 2014, the train between Urumqi and Hami took seven hours. “If you’re not in a...

Well, California Governor Gavin Newsom has abandoned plans to build a high-speed railroad between Los Angeles and San Francisco. After spending billions of dollars in funds, much of it from the Federal government, the Governor said that the project should be shelved. He cited that the project was too expensive. The face of American politics today. This is the slick and well-packaged oligarchy pick for California. Mr. California Governor Gavin Newsom. Look how plastic he appears. Why, he could be right out of one of those political villains from a 1980’s John Cusack movie. California Is Abandoning A Plan To...

The state of California wants the rest of America to pay for their high-speed rail boondoggle and they're willing to sue Washington to get it. Recently, the Trump administration canceled a $1 billion federal grant to the state that would have helped fund the high-speed rail project so beloved by California politicians. But Governor Gavin Newsom says that the cancellation had more to do with politics than anything else. The suit claims the feds nixed the grant due to "political retribution" for the state's opposition to border wall funding. The state will also file a request for a temporary restraining...

The property overcome by the encampments near Edinger Avenue belongs to the Union Pacific Railroad and has long been a place where the homeless camp, officials say. Early Wednesday morning, 16 people were kicked out of their tents. One resident says he has lived at the encampment for a year with his rabbit and cat. The men and women staying at the encampment were offered a place at a local shelter but they reportedly refused. Complaints from business owners and the community prompted Santa Ana leaders to secure a warrant to remove the nuisance.

The State of California sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over the Federal Railroad Administration’s decision to cancel a nearly $1 billion grant for a high-speed railway that the state admits it no longer intends to build as planned. Last week, the federal government followed through on its threat to cancel the $929 billion in funding, which it made earlier this year after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in his “State of the State” address that it “would cost too much and, respectfully, would take too long” to complete the high-speed rail project, which originally was meant to connect San Francisco...