And I hope he spends even more time rallying support for more investment. I used to use Amtrak between Baltimore and New York years ago and always found it convenient. The new Accela is much too pricey and offers too little in terms of time savings (in terms of cost) but Amtrak has the framework to be a much better service. When I can I use trains for travel over here in Europe and prefer them over driving or flying except when the train costs are prohibitive.
While running around the UK for work I get to experience the glory of the current British rail system that was privatized in the post-Thatcher/let's let business show government how to run a public service. If the Republicans have their way, they would do the same to Amtrak and they would be completely wrong. The end result in the UK is a confusing system of trains that deliver shoddy quality and service at ridiculously expensive rates. I often take the train from London to Reading which is a 25 minute ride, yet almost £15 (over $21) off peak. The last time I took that train in the middle of the day and I had to stand for the almost $1 per minute ride. Privatization sure has delivered results...for someone other than the consumer.
Business is what drives our economies but business isn't the only solution. I fail to see how privatizing Amtrak or any rail system brings any real benefit to consumers or society. Biden has been an active Amtrak rider for years and it's great to see him out there stumping for the system. I only hope he continues to help Amtrak expand once they invest in the basics. The US could be doing much more to make Amtrak a decent service, if only the Republicans could move away from the same old failed strategies that they promoted for banking and every other business.
Vice President Joe Biden continued the administration's rollout of the recently passed economic stimulus package Friday, highlighting $1.3 billion in federal funding for Amtrak.
The money for the rail service, which carried almost 29 million passengers in the previous fiscal year, will go primarily to infrastructure repair and improvement.
The $787 billion stimulus plan includes a total of $8 billion for improvements in rail service, a crucial investment to help ease traffic in the congested northeast corridor running from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, Biden argued.
It is "a necessity for a great nation to have a great [rail] passenger system," Biden said. "I'm tired of apologizing for help for Amtrak. ... It's an absolute national treasure and necessity."
The $1.3 billion will roughly double the size of Amtrak's capital investment program over the next two years, according to the vice president's office.
The largest single project funded by the stimulus money is the $105 million replacement of a movable bridge over Connecticut's Niantic River. The replacement of the 102-year-old drawbridge has been delayed for more than 20 years because of a lack of capital, Biden noted.
