no more trains from Chicago to New Orleans - goodbye railroads

[donsu]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1153&slug=Congress%20Amtrak

House panel approves cutting Amtrak routes

Amtrak would have to end all of its cross-country routes, service between Chicago and New Orleans and the Auto Train to Florida under big cuts in taxpayer subsidies approved Wednesday by a House subcommittee.

The proposal was part of a transportation bill that would reduce Amtrak's budget by more than half and limit federal subsidies to $30 per passenger per ride.

The cuts, which would require House and Senate approval, would not apply to most Amtrak service in the Northeast corridor and shorter corridor routes in the Midwest and California.

The subcommittee chairman, Rep. Joe Knollenberg, said those routes account for 80 percent of Amtrak's ridership. He said some money-losing routes, such as the Sunset Limited between Los Angeles and Orlando, require federal subsidies of more than $400 per passenger.

"Congress will no longer sanction extremely unprofitable routes," said Knollenberg, R-Mich.
-snip-
--------------------------------

at a time, because of global warming, we should be expanding the railroads the criminals in the House cut their funding!

well, the oil companies are happier for sure.

[leftofthedial]

1. Midnight on the City of New Orleans . . .

[BlueEyedSon]

2. F*&KING IDIOTS! nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Yeah, what else can one say

:grr:

There goes America, plunging headlong into the nineteenth century---oh, wait, in the 19th century, we had one of the best rail systems in the world, and it was heavily subsidized by the government: railroads were given ownership of the land along their routes to sell or develop as they pleased.

[XNASA]

3. That's the train they call 'The City of New Orleans'.

It's all about profit, just as Knollenberg says. A sad day indeed.

[Desertrose]

4. umm..if trains ran on oil...would they get more federal money then?

This is stupid, short sighted and it really really sucks.

IDIOTS!!!!

[losdiablosgato]

19. Almost all do run on oil

EMD's are the most common engine used in trains of all types. They use a diesel engine to turn agenerator that makes electricity to power electric motors to run the train. Most trains burn huge amounts of oil.

[Kolesar]

6. We waste $1.2 Billion every week on the Iraq war

Of course, you folks already knew that.

[Maddy McCall]

7. OMG! I live on that line!

I had planned to take my son on the train down to N.O.! It is a lifeline, especially for African Americans who live in my area, many of whom have relatives in Chicago. This really sucks.

[ls317]

8. RailRoads

As a youth I have taken several trips on amtrak in the past. Yes it wasnt the fatest method of travel but yet it was a fun one.
How many have taken a trip somewhere on Amtrak? If you havent I suggest that you do while you still can

[RebelOne]

12. When I was a kid, I rode the train every summer

from Miami to Philadelphia.

Then several years ago, I visited my sister and her family in New Jersey and took the train from Miami. I could have flown for the same price, but I wanted the experience of riding the train again. I book a compartment, so it was a little pricey.

[MercutioATC]

9. Railroads are a losing proposition, financially.

The federal government supports all railroads, Amtrak isn't the only one. The problems with Amtrak as I see them are:

1) People like to drive and gas is too cheap to justify giving that up, and

2) Amtrak isn't any cheaper than air travel in many cases (and takes longer).

We have to decide if we want railroads even if we have to subsidize them (they can't be commercially viable without subsidies) or let the market decide whether they survive or not.

I think we should let the market decide.

[madrchsod]

14. airlines are subsidized

highways are subsidized
water ways are subsidized
railroads are subsidized
so if i don`t want to fly or drive then what? greyhound? limo?
i guess i`ll just stay home...

[MercutioATC]

16. They've had money loaned to them, they're not subsidized.

The government does maintain highways and waterways, but not the people/companies who use them.

Amtrak (and all railroad companies as far as I know) are not commercially viable without regular government subsidies.

I see a difference.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. What about airlines?

After 9/11, they received more money from the government in one fell swoop than Amtrak has in its entire existence.

And yet they continue to lose money and drive passengers away with their nickel and diming.

By the way, having just made the trip, I know that it costs LESS to travel between Minneapolis and Chicago by train than by plane: $110 by train, $164 for an advance purchase ticket by plane, according to an Orbitz search I just did, although when I actually booked, it was more like $198 to fly.

By the way, the Amtrak station for Minneapolis-St. Paul offers indefinite free parking for passengers, and the train brings you right into downtown Chicago, so you save on cab or limo fare, too.

Another point in its favor--the train is so much more fun than flying that there's no comparing.

Besides, trains are the most environmentally and fuel economical means of travel for journeys of 600 miles or less, and they aren't bad even for longer distances.

With peak oil coming sooner or later, it's just plain stupid not to subsidize our most fuel efficient means of travel in favor of taking planes on short hops.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

25. Yes, they are subsidized

When was the last time you landed at an airport built entirely by private financing and monitored by private TSA personnel and where the air traffic controllers were private-sector employees.

Take away the government tit, and the airline industry shuts down tomorrow. Nope. Make that today.

[markus]

29. The FAA is paid out of general revenue

I believe that a lot of the runway and associated infrastructure work also comes out of general tax revenue.

Airline and automobile travel are highly subsidized.

If we're going to do this, then fine.

Shut down ALL Amatrk routes. Disband the federal highway program, and place the entire Interstate system on a toll basis, required to make money. Each numbered highway should be required to operate independently in the black.

So, when it starts costing an extra dollar a mile to fly, and all airlines fares go up 50%, and the highway system in the northeast grinds to a halt, we can all sit in our idled vehicles with the statisfaction we have slain the Socialist Behemoth.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

30. Ain't Market Capitalism Silly?

nt

[hatrack]

28. Yes, pay no attention to $20 BILLION in loans, aid to airlines post 9/11

Yes, that's totally different.

[donsu]

22. global warming is deciding it for us - less car use - more train use

until the oil runs out

[karynnj]

10. Great way to conserve oil - what is their alternative now

[Serial Mom]

11. a sad day ...

just another check mark on the list of things to destroy on the repuke's To Do List.

:cry:

[madrchsod]

13. they never cut the eastern seaboard lines even

though they lose the most money. the sunset limited was/is a money loser because most people do not go all the way to florida but the other routes on amtrak are experiencing ridership growth. the main reason is that the two western railroads would like to see amtrak gone because it interferes with their freight schedules.

[donsu]

15. lot of congress people, staff use the trains all the time to go to Philly,

and NYC, etc. probably even to Balt.

[swag]

17. This has a long way to go even in the House. It'll face a tough time

in the Senate. And there are a lot of pork-fed Republicans against the Amtrak cuts. Look no further than Montana, where the egregious Dennis Rehberg and Conrad Burns are sputtering:

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050616/NEWS01/506160303/1002

"I'm going to fight these Amtrak cuts in the full committee," said Rep. Dennis Rehberg, R-Mont., a member of the House Appropriations Committee. He is not a member of the subcommittee that voted on the Amtrak funding Wednesday. "If I have to, I'll take our fight for the Empire Builder to the floor of the House."
. . .
"The House may have gutted it, but it's still got to make it through the Senate," said Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. "I'm going to fight to ensure Amtrak gets adequate funding when we tackle it in Senate Transportation Appropriations. Subcommittee Chairman Kit Bond, R-Mo., rode the Empire Builder with me last month, and he saw first-hand how important that line is to Montana."

[maxsolomon]

18. destroy it now, pay more to rebuild after the oil economy collapses

50 years from now, there will be less jet travel, less long distance car travel. trains will be back, and with massive government subsidies.

[NeoTraitors]

20. Meanwhile the late great

Steve Goodman rolls in his grave.

[davepc]

23. In the 1950's the powers that be had a choice to make

support the developing aerospace industry or continue to support the rail roads.

They chose the aerospace industry (not in small part due to their role in the military/industrial complex) while rebuilding Europe and Japan which had no Aerospace industry to support rebuilt and focused on their rail lines.

They developed high speed rail service that exists to this day as a safe, fast, affordable way to transport people across distances.

We created the jumbo passenger jet.

The choice has been made.

To redevelop the tens of thousands of miles of right of way to support high speed rail would cost untold trillions.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

26. As an addendum...

The decision was make in the 1950's when Republicans controlled the White House and the Senate. Railroad employees were heavily unionized while airline employees (still in an emerging industry) were not.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

24. Let's do the math...

How much do federal, state, and local governments spend on road construction each year? How much on maintenance?

How much do state and local governments spend on police and emergency services based on automobile traffic?

What's the annual loss for uninsured motorists accidents, including property damage, injuries and fatalities?

How much does the U.S. government spend each year to keep the Middle East as a stable supplier of crude oil -- including the cost of invading and occupying Iraq?

What's the cost per year for diseases caused by the inhalation of automobile emissions?

What's the cost per year of Global Warming?

I guess the ultimate question would be, What's the cost per year to the American taxpayer for having Congress run by people who are dumber than a sack of doorknobs?

[Catchawave]

27. National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP)

...has a pretty strong bipartisan lobby, info at:

http://www.narprail.org/