Is A Perfect (Passenger Rail) Storm A Brewin’?

August 29th, 2008 · 1 Comment

In the song Aquarius, there is a line that goes ‘when the moon is in the seventh house…and Jupiter, aligns with Mars….’ (are you sorry you can’t hear me singing?) I keep thinking about that song and wondering if we could finally have the Perfect Storm of support for improved passenger rail. In Ohio, we supposedly have a Governor who is committed to passenger rail and the Ohio Hub. I mentioned in a post a week ago that Mayor Jackson is sounding very enthusiastic about passenger rail. Now we may have a Vice President who has consistently supported legislation involving passenger rail.

Here is a Washington Post story on it by Sarah Karush. Some stats taken from the article (bold emphasis is mine):

“…A record 25.8 million passengers took Amtrak in the last fiscal year. Ridership is expected to exceed 28 million this year, spokesman Cliff Black said.

More people are boarding trains across the country and not just in the traditionally successful Northeast corridor, he said. For example, ridership between Kansas City and St. Louis increased 57 percent last month compared with July 2007. The train between Oklahoma City and Dallas saw a 40 percent boost…”

This quote from The National Journal (this past Wed) on line by Megan Scullyabout the voting records of McCain and Biden:

“John McCain has consistently not been a supporter of Amtrak,” said David Johnson, deputy director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. “His voting record in the Senate speaks for that.”

While one could assume his stance on Amtrak would follow McCain to the White House if elected, “a change of heart is always possible,” Johnson said hopefully.

Ridership in Wisconsin is at an all time high. And it’s no wonder is it, that Chicago is thriving economically all these years since they did not totally abandon their railroad systems.

This is a reprint of an article by Train Orders website on Barack Obama’s positions on passenger rail:

“…Support Amtrak Funding: Barack Obama has been a strong supporter of federal financial support for Amtrak. Obama believes we need to reform Amtrak to improve accountability. In many parts of the country, Amtrak is the only form of reliable transportation. In the U.S. Senate, Obama is a cosponsor of the Passenger Rail Investment and Innovation Act of 2007, a leading act to provide long-term federal investment to Amtrak. As president, Barack Obama will continue to fight for Amtrak funding and reform so that individuals, families and businesses throughout the country have safe and reliable transportation options.

Support Development of High-Speed Freight and Passenger Rail: Barack Obama supports development of high-speed rail networks across the country. Providing passengers with safe high-speed rail will have significant environmental and metropolitan planning advantages and help diversify our nation’s transportation
infrastructure. Our domestic rail freight capacity must also be strengthened because our demand for rail transportation has never been greater, leaving many key transportation hubs stretched to capacity. Obama is committed to renewing the federal government’s commitment to high speed rail so that our nation’s transportation infrastructure continues to support, and not hinder, our nation’s long-term economic growth…”

To be fair, neither of the presidential candidates voted on SB294 but Biden did vote nay to the ‘limit to subsidies’ portion of this legislation and McCain did not vote (this was Senate Amendment 3453).

Of course there are other issues involved in deciding who to vote for in an election and this one is no different. But you all know passenger rail is close to my heart. Now, improving and expanding passenger rail service is becoming more of a ground swell with fuel prices on the rise. Just thought it would be good to know how it fits into the scheme of things for our upcoming November 4th election. Peace Out - 3C

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