Why freight rail pays and passenger trains flunk
Highball Northbound
From Washington Examiner, by Michael Barone, 03/30, 2013 –
Forty years ago, American railroads were in trouble. The Penn Central, the largest railroad, had recently gone bankrupt.
American freight rail was technologically obsolescent and hamstrung by union rules and government rate regulation. American passenger rail was unprofitable and unreliable.
Freight rail was losing business to trucking firms. Passenger rail was losing out to cars on the new interstate highways and airplanes on long routes.
Transportation secretary: Americans want to ‘get out of their cars’
Ray LaHood
From The Daily Caller, by Nicholas Ballasy, 03/12/13 – WASHINGTON – Making a case for high-speed rail in America, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said Americans want to “get off the 95 corridor,” “get out of their cars” and use a more “convenient” form of transportation.
“Ridership is at an all-time high on Amtrak on the northeast corridor. Amtrak is making money on the northeast corridor. Why? Because the people are ahead of the politicians on this,” LaHood told the American Public Transportation Association’s legislative conference on Monday.
My State of the Union Address
John Stossel
Here’s mine:
We’re in deep trouble.
You know why. Our debt has passed $14 trillion, and yet our current spending plans will make that worse. The U.S. debt will reach Greek levels in just 10 years.
But do not despair. If we make reasonable cuts to what government spends, our economy can grow us out of our debt. Cutting doesn’t just make economic sense, it is also the moral thing to do. Henry David Thoreau had it right when he “accepted(ed) the motto … that government is best which governs least.”
So what should we get rid of? Continue reading →
Amtrak vs Scamtrack
by Lenny Leatherman
Earlier this year an article appeared in Daily Kos that referred to Ohio Democrat Governor Ted Strickland’s half billion dollar ‘Snail Rail’ Train project as ‘Scamtrak’.
It occurred to me that Scamtrak is the perfect description of the method socialists in America use to transport an unsuspecting American public down the track to socialism. It seems the only thing that changes from election cycle to election cycle is the pace at which we move toward a socialist state. Scamtrak picks up speed during Democrat administrations, and slows its pace when the Scamtrak Engineer is a Republican. But the sad fact is, it doesn’t matter if the Engineer is Democrat or Republican, we are still on the same track going in the same direction.
In recent years we have all become accustomed to hearing government officials and the liberal media speak of America’s rail system, Amtrak with praise and adoration.
While Amtrak may exude the appearance of a well designed and highly efficient means of transport, nothing could be farther from the truth! You, Mr. taxpayer, subsidized Amtrak in 2009 to the tune of 1.3 billion dollars! That’s right – you picked up the tab – not by choice, but you paid for it.
So what, if anything, does ‘big government’ do well? Continue reading →
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