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Posted: 9:58 AM Sep 12, 2007
Amtrak Bailout Faces Veto
Washington, D.C. The U.S. Senate moved to reverse President Bush's proposed cuts to Amtrak, but a veto is likely. Reporter: The Associated Press |
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6 Comments 
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Amtrak is actually the least money-losing out of all of the modes of transportation in America. Bush is targeting it because he wants Americans to delve deeper into automobiles and cars. Doesn't he realize that having a country dependent on public transportation instead of cars is so much more efficient and cheaper? Look at Europe, trains are the best answer, we need to expand Amtrak, not kill it.
Why isn't the term "money loseing" used when highways and airlines are discussed? If highways made money they would be private, not government. Airlines? we all know about these for profit companys! Infact in a few years as oil continues to increase in price most of our air service will disappear! The freight railroads are very profitable because they don't use much fuel per ton to move goods or people. A the White HOuse wants to cut Amtrak?
Money losing? Defense costs us $1billion a day, and it's not enough. Amtrak's annual budget would fund defense for a day and a half! We need more trains not fewer. Get the Sunset Coast to Coast again, and make the three day a week trains daily. It'd cost less than an aircraft carrier, and no one would die.
There needs to be a grand national plan for revamping the passenger train system in the US, much like the Interstate Highway program in the 1950's. Sure its expensive, but so was creating the enormous concrete jungle of highways we now have. We urgently need good surface mass transit; who of the presidential candidate's can step forward with enough guts to propose this???
If anything we should be investing in rail, with airports overcapacity and with the lack of room to expand. As far roads it is cheaper to build twenty miles of highspeed rail track capable of speeds in excess of 200, than it is to build a single clover-leaf interchange. As far as safety I trust rail more than any other mode of travel. Road travel is the most dangerous be cause of the sheer volume of traffic involved and the fact that virtually no training is required to get a license. As far as flying goes, the slightest equipment malfunction can bring down an aircraft. Also unlike trains aircraft have no safety mecahnism to control the craft if a pilot becomes incapacitated. Rail is the safest, you hear a lot about train wrecks but only a small few include injuries to passengers. Most of these crashes involve automobiles disregarding the warning system at grade crossings. TGV's in France have derailed at 200mph with no injuries to passengers, that's about as safe as you can get.
The poll asks whether we feel safe flying. Since Amtrak is in the news, let's ask whether we feel safe(r) on the rails. The problem for both modes is unreliability of schedules.