‘Amtrak Joe’ is Tired of Defending Amtrak, Announces $1.3 Billion in Stimulus Funds for Nation’s Rail Services
EmailABC News’ Karen Travers reports: Vice President Biden, perhaps the nation’s most famous Amtrak passenger, announced today that Amtrak will receive $1.3 billion in stimulus money to expand passenger rail capacity. At an event at Union Station this afternoon, Biden strongly defended the government subsidies that go to the nation’s rail system and said he was “tired of apologizing for help for Amtrak.” “Every passenger rail service system in the world relies on subsidies. We subsidize our highways and airports more than we subsidize Amtrak. So let’s get something straight here. Amtrak has not been at the trough. Amtrak has been left out. Amtrak has been left out much too long, in my humble opinion,” said Biden, who boasts he has taken over 7,000 round trips on Amtrak between Delaware and Washington, D.C. Biden called Amtrak “an absolute national treasure and necessity.” The Obama administration says that the stimulus money will roughly double the size of Amtrak’s capital investment program over two years and will be used to upgrade railroad assets and infrastructure. Biden said that $105 millon will go to replace a 102-year-old drawbridge on a rail line in Connecticut. This is the biggest project to be funded with these stimulus dollars and Biden said the plans have been in place for 20 years but have been repeatedly cut off because of funding issues. A project to rebuild 68 passenger rail cars that have been out of service will receive $82 million. Biden said Amtrak is the perfect example of what the White House means when it says that the stimulus package can put people back to work and update infrastructure. “It’s work that will take care of critical, long-neglected needs. It will put people to work immediately, and it’s an investment of dollars that will not only create jobs now but yield benefits for our economy for years to come. It will begin to build the platform for the economy of the 21st century,” he said. Upgrades to Amtrak’s passenger cars will take place at facilities in Beech Grove, Ind., and Berar, Del., and the vice president said that the company plans to hire workers who have recently been laid off from jobs at nearby manufacturing facilities. For anyone who has boarded a packed Amtrak train anywhere along the east coast and was not able to get a seat or got stuck on a delayed train, the administration has some good news for you. The upgrades to Amtrak trains will allow for increased capacity and improved schedule reliability. — Karen Travers
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Posted by: Paul Dirks | March 13, 2009, 2:14 pm 2:14 pm
Won’t need the Amtrak if there aren’t any jobs to commute to.
Posted by: Peace Train | March 13, 2009, 2:14 pm 2:14 pm
This kind of investment in infrastucture is a good idea. Europe, once again, is way ahead of us with their steady government investment in train travel. Here we have built more and more roads which studies have shown become congested again in a few years.
Train travel makes sense.
Posted by: Lydia | March 13, 2009, 2:15 pm 2:15 pm
AMTRAK Joe. If other countries still had slaves. Does that mean we should also. YOUR WIMP
Posted by: wrangler | March 13, 2009, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm
“This kind of investment in infrastucture is a good idea. Europe, once again, is way ahead of us with their steady government investment in train travel. Here we have built more and more roads which studies have shown become congested again in a few years.
Train travel makes sense.”
This isn’t Europe. If you have been to Europe, you’d know they live on top of each other. They have far less area and shorter commutes… because they live on top of each other. We are vast and spread out, even our cities. While I am a fan of train travel and would do it more, it’s problem is that it’s price is comparable to air travel but far slower and is also subject to long layovers. The vastness of our nation makes most of the country innefficient for train travel. Much of the North East could benefit, but doesn’t change the rest of the nation.
Posted by: KR | March 13, 2009, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm
I’m an Amtrak fan. I sure wish we had it in my area.
Posted by: marylou | March 13, 2009, 2:31 pm 2:31 pm
“While I am a fan of train travel and would do it more, it’s problem is that it’s price is comparable to air travel but far slower and is also subject to long layovers. The vastness of our nation makes most of the country innefficient for train travel. Much of the North East could benefit, but doesn’t change the rest of the nation.”
While I agree that the nation spanning train system of Europe would not be a clean fit, I see regional use being a benefit.
The East Coast is obvious but also to connect the major metro areas elsewhere in the country such as TX or CA.
Posted by: Ryan C | March 13, 2009, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
This is is a good Idea, Traffic Congestion Up In New England Is Horrible. Isnt it great To see your Tax dollars Being spent here In America And not in Iraq?
Posted by: ANGIE IN PA | March 13, 2009, 2:33 pm 2:33 pm
How Could anyone Be Against Our Tax Dollars being spent here to Reinvest In America and get us into the 21st Century!
Posted by: ANGIE IN PA | March 13, 2009, 2:35 pm 2:35 pm
More of OUR money being taken from us by force, and dropped into a worthless black hole of government. Amtrak is horrible. It should be put out of business, and the tracks etc should be sold to businesspeople who put the customers first, instead of exploiting them.
Amtrak, like everything else in government, provides as little service as possible, for the greatest possible price. Yeah, I’ll be happy to rant about socialized transportation – it’s horrible. The interesting thing is that those who always want to force socialism on us are the same people who would have a hissy fit about a private business monopoly. But these same liberals have no problem forcing government monopolies on us, do they?
Amtrak Joe the Buffoon is this exact type of liberal. Taking out money from us, and CONVENIENTLY a big chunk of it goes right to his state of Delaware, to rebuild some old cars? This is just a common Democrat vote-buying scheme. 10 years from now Amtrak’s service will be the same or worse than it is now.
Posted by: JD | March 13, 2009, 2:35 pm 2:35 pm
“Amtrak is horrible. It should be put out of business, and the tracks etc should be sold to businesspeople who put the customers first, instead of exploiting them.”
ROFLMAO!
Do you have any idea the history of train and transportation companies in this country?
Posted by: Ryan C | March 13, 2009, 2:38 pm 2:38 pm
Make it fast, as the French, as on time as the Germans. Then, it will be a preferred means of transportation, clean, fast, and comfortable.
If you just pour money into it, subsidizing for the sake of subsidizing because it was not subsidize as much as highways and airlines, it will end up as another typical PB0 project, down in the drain of a deep hole.
If you set up the goal of 300 miles per hour between any points of major cities, we cats applause to pour 10 times of that amount, to make it a cool $15 billion.
Posted by: two cats | March 13, 2009, 2:41 pm 2:41 pm
“The East Coast is obvious but also to connect the major metro areas elsewhere in the country such as TX or CA.”
They actually do already. I looked into a trip back to my home state and it cost more than air travel and took about 8 hours longer. It also had a 4 hour lay over. This was to go 700 miles. I can drive it in 8 hours and cost a fraction of train travel. It is, unfortunately, innefficient method of travel over long distances. For small compact area’s and short distances where air travel doesn’t come into play, and traffic is so bad that train travel is easier, it works. But there just isn’t many places like that in the country.
Posted by: KR | March 13, 2009, 2:46 pm 2:46 pm
Way to go Joe!!! Rail transportation for passengers in this country needs all the help it can get. Also, east of the Mississippi River, America’s population is as dense as Europe’s.
Posted by: arthur | March 13, 2009, 2:48 pm 2:48 pm
OBAMA CRAT FOR PALIN
Did you check out the Blog about your Girl Palin and her Oh so Ear Mark Loving request For Alaska?
Posted by: ANGIE IN PA | March 13, 2009, 2:50 pm 2:50 pm
Thanks Vice President Dim Wit. Why didn’t you just stack all $1.3 billion in the middle of the Washington Mall and just set it on fire. Amtrak is one of the biggest wastes of taxpayer money in history. Do us all a favor pal; spend more time at your hair dresser and less time at work.
Posted by: OIFtoUSC | March 13, 2009, 3:09 pm 3:09 pm
Amtrak is horrible. It should be put out of business,
That way all the passengers can drive instead.
There’s some forward thinking for ya’
Posted by: Paul Dirks | March 13, 2009, 3:16 pm 3:16 pm
Railroads are the most efficient means of transportation, bar none. Trains can move a ton of freight (or passengers) 425 miles on a gallon of fuel. What this country needs is more support of our railroads. High speed rail lines crossing the country could easily compete with the airlines.
Also note that the greater majority of what you eat, sleep on, sit on, watch, read, write on and more all travel by rail. Stores are stocked by trucks that are either loaded from trains or travel on trains. Without railroads this country would grind to a standstill.
Posted by: kj | March 13, 2009, 3:19 pm 3:19 pm
As a fair, unbiased, open-minded independent voter, I was analyzing the Obamacrat for Palin and ANGIE IN PA spat, and from a strictly unpartisaned factual point of view, the Obamacrat is spot-on, and Angie got took by the liberal elite mainstream media. In this case, Jake of ABCNews. As we all know, federal earmarks come from, the federal government. Sarah Palin is a state governor, so by definition, she has nothing to do with the pork-barrelers in Washington. Jake cited sources that Sarah Palin asked for an “unspecified number of earmarks.” Well, that “unspecified number” is zero, nada, zilch, because state governors don’t pen federal legislation, and anyone that claims Sarah Palin did request earmarks is reaching for straws, trying to connect the unconnectable to personally smear a public servant for political purposes. The fault of the dirty Alaska earmarks fall squarely on the shoulders of the Democrat Mark Begich that replaced former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. Lisa Murkowski is useless as well, that is why, for the good of the country, independent voters must vote for Sarah Palin in the 2010 United States Senate Alaska primary, and in 2012, Palin for President. But that is only from a strictly fact-based, non-opiniated position.
Posted by: IndePalin | March 13, 2009, 3:22 pm 3:22 pm
1930 Germany had trains too……this is a joke, like Biden as a VP. Every Senator and Congressman lined their states pockets with your money from train travel to Harry Reids speed-train to Vegas. It’ll create jobs – sure – but they aren’t self sustaining jobs – when the money runs out so do the jobs. Maybe they’ll rename that bridge after old Joe too…..give me a break.
Posted by: Billy Romps | March 13, 2009, 3:28 pm 3:28 pm
It would be nice if something was said about specific benefits for west of the Mississippi. For example, restarting the Salt Lake to Portland run or the Salt Lake to LA run.
Posted by: Dave | March 13, 2009, 3:29 pm 3:29 pm
I think we need to make All Public Transportation: Safe, Fast, Convenient and (ALMOST: FREE TO ALL)…This is the way out of our energy crisis…but I have no clue how we could do this, this is just fixing what little passenger rail that the U.S. has already.
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | March 13, 2009, 3:43 pm 3:43 pm
Harry Reid’s train from LA to LV is a joke. First, they would have to determine who owns every square inch of land that the proposed train would run on. They would have to purchase that land. Then there would be the environmental impact studies, which would take years, and be tied up in court by environmentalists claiming that a train would disrupt the mating of a rare snail. By time all that was done, the money would be gone, and not one inch of track would have been laid. The only thing it would stimulate is layers, and land speculators. It would provide zero jobs.
Passenger trains are a thing of the past, whether anyone wants to admit that or not. The few that exist here and there are unprofitable, heavily subsidized, create few jobs, but suck up lots of taxpayer money for the few that use them.
Posted by: greg | March 13, 2009, 4:52 pm 4:52 pm
Car companies get subsidies from state and national governments who build their infrastructure (roads and highways) by issuing debt. Which airport you know is fully owned by an airline? Once again, subsidized by governments by issuing debt (creating fiat money). How could a private train company possibly compete?
Further, does only make sense in the NEC (Northeast corridor) as the population density favors it. Another place could be from DC to Pittsburgh to Cleveland to Chicago (the rust belt, which is fairly dense as well).
The main issue at stake here is a train can run off of electricity, produced by any means, all domestic: Coal, Nuclear, Hydro, Natural Gas, Wind, Solar, even Muninciple Garbage or Cow Farts.
You can’t fill a plane up with any of these. You could even tow a train with some horses if you wanted. Point being, a train is the most efficient and the most versatile way to transport people and goods (besides a large barge). National security and a balanced trade account, not national stupidity. Go Amtrak!
Posted by: Erik L | March 13, 2009, 4:54 pm 4:54 pm
If you are going to bankrupt the country, at least do it with some style. Let’s do high speed rail! Every western industrialized country has high speed rail. Or “Amtrak Joe” is the airline lobby way too strong?
Posted by: Bubba | March 13, 2009, 4:55 pm 4:55 pm
After 9/11, all of the airlines were grounded. Amtrak was the best alternative. Highways, freeways, and other road construction, maintenance, and policing are paid for by tax payers. Airports and other aspects of air travel are subsidized by tax money. The United States needs a diverse balanced transportation system. Every rail passenger is one less person, and usually, one less car on the road.
Posted by: Larry Linn | March 13, 2009, 6:21 pm 6:21 pm
Amtrak is the classic case of a government monopoly: few choices, lousy service and little innovation — all at incredibly high cost.
So, throw another %1.3 Billion down the drain along the all the other $Billions in subsidies.
It would be cheaper to buy all the rail passengers new cars.
Posted by: Sigmonde | March 13, 2009, 7:11 pm 7:11 pm
This entire mess is one big boondoggle. STOP WASTING OUR MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe it would be a good idea to put all government raises on the ballot and see how people really think of this bunch of theives.
Posted by: watchdog | March 13, 2009, 8:35 pm 8:35 pm
ABC has had plenty of bad news to repot. This is GOOD NEWS. It would help if ABC followed up with some details about specific routes and cities that will benefit from this expenditure.
Posted by: Dave | March 13, 2009, 9:29 pm 9:29 pm
Posted by: Erik L “Harry Reid’s train from LA to LV is a joke. First, they would have to determine who owns every square inch of land that the proposed train would run on. They would have to purchase that land. Then there would be the environmental impact studies, which would take years, and be tied up in court by environmentalists claiming that a train would disrupt the mating of a rare snail. By time all that was done, the money would be gone, and not one inch of track would have been laid. The only thing it would stimulate is layers, and land speculators. It would provide zero jobs.
Passenger trains are a thing of the past, whether anyone wants to admit that or not. The few that exist here and there are unprofitable, heavily subsidized, create few jobs, but suck up lots of taxpayer money for the few that use them.”
Hit the nail on the head Erik. Land speculators are already waiting in line to buy worthless piles of sand to sell back to the govt for Harry’s train. Reid is a piece of sh#t worthless democrat crook.
Posted by: Bob Chessman | March 13, 2009, 10:32 pm 10:32 pm
What a bunch of uniformed blowhard posts. There is no plan for a harry reid train to vegas – it isnt even pat of the 11 federal high speed rail corridors. As for amtrak money it has been starved for decades even though ridership growth is breaking new records every years and cities along corridors all over the country are asking for more amtrak service not less. Add to that the fact the trains are the most economical and environmentally sound for of transit and you see the future. Generally speaking people who think rail is dead or too foreign are the same people who are too fat to squeeze behind their own steering wheels. Big fat blowhard yahoos, the same ones who stood by and the country slide into the toilet. Guess what, your time is up.
Posted by: jim | March 13, 2009, 11:26 pm 11:26 pm
Perhaps Amtrack Joe will not worry about the chinese seizing Amtrack. We are going further into debt by spending without proper planning. I hope Amtrack Joe’s sons will pay back my share of the national debt. I should send him my address for my stimilus check. I would settle fot 1.3 million.
Posted by: western stomper | March 13, 2009, 11:32 pm 11:32 pm
Hey Western Stomper – We tried Amtrak for our daughter going back to college. Thought we’d have her leave her car at school and go back and forth by rail, you know, “go green”. We found out the 5 hour trip normally takes 9 hours! The stations were a dump, and the idiots working there berated the passengers, and just about ran them down with the golf carts. No thanks, we’ll have her pollute for 4 years. Yup, another well run government disaster. If Amtrak were private, it just might even turn a profit!
Posted by: No Rail for Us! | March 14, 2009, 12:03 am 12:03 am
It’s too bad that the Amtrak system has been neglected for so long that when someone tries it, they are disappointed. The fact is that this type of story merely proves the point that there is much to be done.
Rail works well for distances of 500 miles or less, provided the infrastructure is in place. Even though the US is probably a long way away from anything beyond 125 mph trains, it is about time to take the steps we need. The US dropped this ball a long time ago.
Posted by: WW | March 14, 2009, 12:48 am 12:48 am
Well, isn’t that lovely. Too bad there really is not very much demand for Amtrak transportation due to the kinds of housing we like to live in. Might work well in a soviet style block apartment building city. Will that be next, by any chance?
Posted by: middleclass jane | March 14, 2009, 1:18 am 1:18 am
Wait til you get Uncle Joe’s Teeth and Hair Bills for the next 4 years…
Posted by: GIJoe | March 14, 2009, 2:39 am 2:39 am
All job creation by Obama are govt jobs roads highways bridges trains…where are the private sector jobs? Once everything is fixed the jobs will be gone. The $ going to welfare what happens when the stimulus $$ runs out? Ob is raising taxes on small business which will cause lay offs and cause them to close = no jobs. And it will keep people from starting business. Ob strategy is NOT long term. Cutting spending and across the board tax cuts is teh only way to create jobs it has always worked in recessions. THe 80s the 90s 2000. This banking crisis was not caused by this policy it was cause by Barney Frank Mass and Chris Dodd Conn on the Banking Comm saying in a hearing their is no problem in banking and allowing people loans who don’t work, had no credit and bad credit.
WHO did they think would pay the loans?
THEY should be investigated.
To the blame Bush for all the liberals spending the US Congress holds the purse strings the Pres only signs the legislation. Pres Bush should be blamed for not VETOING all the out of control liberal defect spending.
Posted by: Ms Fran | March 14, 2009, 10:41 am 10:41 am
Re: GIJoe,
“Too bad there really is not very much demand for Amtrak transportation…” Where do you live, in the ocean? There’s a huge demand for Amtrak.
Posted by: Mickey Bitsko | March 14, 2009, 9:14 pm 9:14 pm
Airstrip One had state-owned trains, too. So what?
Perhaps they should hire an Italian Fascist to get them running on time.
Posted by: RR GOP | March 14, 2009, 10:11 pm 10:11 pm
Listening to some of the detractors stating that investing in rail is a bad idea makes me wonder if they really know the full history of rail in the US. As an industry it has been taxed and regulated heavily to the point where its in the sad state it is versus highway and air travel. Another blackmark against rail as an effective transportation for passengers is it doesn’t classify as a Class I not to mention that the vast majority of the 22,000 or so miles over which Amtrak operates are actually owned by freight railroads. Amtrak has specific time windows where they have priority but if they miss the window most freight directors force them to follow behind the freight carriers.
Since coming to Germany in 2007, I’ve used all the available rail transportation here in Europe (Deutsche Bahn, TGV France, British Royal Train) and am amazed that if Europe “gets” the benefits rail provides them why we as Americans accecpt such sub-par transportation options.
Posted by: Expat in Deutschland | March 15, 2009, 12:13 am 12:13 am
If rail travel made sense in this country, it wouldn’t take tax money to keep it around. I don’t care how much Talky Joe loves to ride on the choo-choo, let him do it without picking my pocket.
Posted by: Some Guy | March 15, 2009, 12:51 am 12:51 am
Warning, reading the comments section has been shown to provoke depression.
Posted by: Martino Cuevas | March 15, 2009, 1:25 am 1:25 am
What about the West Coast.
Americans Train System is so depressing. Look at Europe and Asia.
As a Fine example of what they can do with their train system.
Image a first first class service between Seattle and Portland. Working in one city living in Another.
Travel around the West coast and even Across Country.
One day.
Posted by: Daniel | March 15, 2009, 2:56 am 2:56 am
Amtrak just doesn’t yet have the cost advantage or the speed advantage. If you want to get somewhere cheaply you drive.
For example, I live in Baltimore. Baltimore to New York is just over a 3 hour drive and would cost about about $30 in gas plus tolls (round trip, up to 5 people).
Flying would take about 1 hour and would cost $350 (round trip, assuming 2 people).
Taking Amtrak would take 3 hours and cost $256 (round trip, two people).
I want to like the train, because I hate getting stuck in traffic and I hate the hassle (and sitting around and waiting) of going to the airport. But they need to speed up the travel time and reduce the cost before it becomes my first choice of travel.
Posted by: Tim | March 15, 2009, 9:01 am 9:01 am
Give em the money.
And lower the ticket prices in southenr california. a round troip ticket from La to Oceanside is $28 and that DOESN’T include your cost to get to the train station. Seems like it should be morelike $5 if you want people to take the trains.
We subsidize the rail construction. Why not subsidize the ticket price which is where it makes the most difference if we want the pollution offset?
Posted by: Geo | March 15, 2009, 4:57 pm 4:57 pm
“This isn’t Europe. If you have been to Europe, you’d know they live on top of each other. They have far less area and shorter commutes… because they live on top of each other. We are vast and spread out, even our cities.”
There are over forty cities in the US of 400,000 people or more. Plot them on a map and you will see that scarcely a handful are more than 400-450 miles from the next. A sweet set-up for high-speed rail.
Posted by: Mike | March 15, 2009, 7:18 pm 7:18 pm
“This was to go 700 miles. I can drive it in 8 hours and cost a fraction of train travel.”
You can average over 87 miles per hour?
Posted by: Mike | March 15, 2009, 7:23 pm 7:23 pm
“…train travel to Harry Reids speed-train to Vegas.”
Thanks for repeating the Republican talking point, Billy. Too bad it’s just another lie. There is no Vegas “speed train” in the Stimulus bill. On the otherhand there is money for support for the LA to San Francisco and LA to Fresno and Sacramento California High Speed Rail initiative already in progress.
Posted by: Steve Jones | March 16, 2009, 11:37 am 11:37 am
People who live in the middle of nowhere always complain when the government considers spending money on Amtrak. They claim the USA is so big, and everyone lives in suburbs and small towns far from dense population centers.
The facts are, most people in the USA live in “dense population centers” like the eastern seaboard and the west coast. Thats why they are referred to as “dense population centers” – because most of the population lives there.
Trains works great in these areas, and when the govt spends money on trains in these areas – they are actually benefitting the majority of the USA population.
Posted by: asus | March 16, 2009, 6:15 pm 6:15 pm
Just wait until gas climbs up again and hits that $5 a gallon mark. You’ll wish we had invested in trains then. My tax dollars subsidize the federal highway system and you don’t hear me complaining. Look at the thousands of miles of highway that serve a relatively small population and the millions of dollars it takes to keep them up. Wake up people! You’re not as smart as you think you are.
Posted by: ThinkAboutIt | March 19, 2009, 1:06 pm 1:06 pm
Thinkaboutit. Roads are constructed and repaired by automotive and truck road use and gas taxes…subsidy? Amtrack stays afloat by shoveling billions of our tax dollars to a poor service very few use. Annually Amtrack looses money with every ticket sold. Raise ticket prices to cover the actual cost. That would be brutal then the wealthy Senator plagiarist Biden would be paying his own way instead of having taxpayers subsidising each of his 7000 trips.
Posted by: Tom Lorenz | April 2, 2009, 3:21 pm 3:21 pm
“If rail travel made sense in this country, it wouldn’t take tax money to keep it around.”
Air travel makes sense, yet it uses tax dollars, no?
“Yup, another well run government disaster. If Amtrak were private, it just might even turn a profit!”
Amtrak is owned by the government, but run just like a private business. Making it truly private would make very little difference. About 99% of the Amtrak system runs on tracks owned by private freight railroads, who dislike Amtrak running on their tracks because it supposedly inconveniences their operations. If Amtrak wasn’t run by the government, it wouldn’t have any authority and would be kicked off the freight tracks.
In order for Amtrak to generate more revenue, it must attract more riders. In order to attract more riders it needs to improve it’s service.
In order to improve it’s service it needs more money.
One has to spend money to make money.
Posted by: Dylan | October 2, 2009, 5:12 am 5:12 am