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There's another bus line besides Greyhound?
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Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree... -
Unfortunately, you can do this only in select places, few of which are in the NE. Normal freeways are curved so that people don't fall asleep at the wheel.Plus, you can build the tracks down the middle of the expressways
Sure. There's a half dozen or so that ply the non-stop NYC <-> Washington route.There's another bus line besides Greyhound?I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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Amtrak owns most of its own rail lines though some of the tracks it uses are other belong to freigh companies. Amtrak itself is entirely a goernment owned entity just like the Post Office.Originally posted by chegitz guevara
I think he means the rail lines.Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.Comment
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Amtrak only owns a small portion of the track that it uses. Mainly, it owns the NE corridor tracks.I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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There is a big problem with eliminating the subsidies to Amtrak. Congress mandates that Amtrak must serve all of the lower 48 states even if it is unprofitable to do so and Amtrak cannot close an unprofitable line unless Congress approves the measure. Congressmen normally won't vote to cut rail service in their states but they are willing to cut funding. That's why Amtrak is always out of money.
Right, that's exactly why AMTRACK is losing money, they're required BY LAW to keep all the long-distance routes open in square-shaped states etc. that nobody uses. This is also why AMTRACK costs a lot in the Northeast, they've got to make up for losing ****-loads of money in the Mid-west by yanking up prices in the North East. If AMTRACK were privatized, they'd probably have to cut service to most of the country except the NE and maybe a little in the California to Las Vegas area.
And the talk in the article about trains not being special and not needing subsidies anymore than other means of transportation is a joke when you realize how much the government spends on highways...
Hmmmm, where's Adam Smith when you need him?Stop Quoting BenComment
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I believe it owns the tracks in much of California. Do you have a map?Originally posted by DanS
Amtrak only owns a small portion of the track that it uses. Mainly, it owns the NE corridor tracks.Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.Comment
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Yeah, the government spends hundreds of millions on highways and airports but doesn't want to spend money on railroads. We really should just nationalize all the tracks and have the government upkeep them like it does the roads while letting different companies opperate the routes.Originally posted by Boshko
And the talk in the article about trains not being special and not needing subsidies anymore than other means of transportation is a joke when you realize how much the government spends on highways...Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.Comment
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I don't believe this is the case any longer, with the passage of the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act in 1997. Amtrak can close any lines that don't make money. However, if Amtrak were to cut a line, then over time it would lose congressional support for its fat subsidies -- not a good move.There is a big problem with eliminating the subsidies to Amtrak. Congress mandates that Amtrak must serve all of the lower 48 states even if it is unprofitable to do so and Amtrak cannot close an unprofitable line unless Congress approves the measure. Congressmen normally won't vote to cut rail service in their states but they are willing to cut funding. That's why Amtrak is always out of money.
I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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Airports and freeways are funded through user fees (i.e., taxes on those modes of transport). Rail doesn't have any similar user fees.And the talk in the article about trains not being special and not needing subsidies anymore than other means of transportation is a joke when you realize how much the government spends on highways...I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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No, but consider the following...I believe it owns the tracks in much of California. Do you have a map?
Amtrak owns 730 miles of track, mostly in the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, plus in Michigan. It owns stations along the Northeast Corridor, plus Union Station in Chicago.
The tracks and stations Amtrak owns represent just a tiny fraction its network. Amtrak serves 500 stations over 22,000 route miles. Most of the tracks are owned by freight railroads, which receive usage fees from Amtrak.
Amtrak was not originally designed to own real estate. It took possession of the Northeast Corridor assets in 1976 from the estate of Penn Central Railroad, as part of the creation of Conrail.I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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That's a very interesting link. I hadn't realized the reforms were so extensive.Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.Comment
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Are they extensive in comparison to what should have been done?I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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Dan, you and I both know that the amounts paid in user fees doesn't cover the whole cost of building and maintaining roads & airports. There are government subsidies.Originally posted by DanS
Airports and freeways are funded through user fees (i.e., taxes on those modes of transport). Rail doesn't have any similar user fees.Last edited by Dinner; February 2, 2005, 21:34.Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.Comment
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At a minimum, the user fees cover federal government involvement in these industries. Each state and local government does its own thing, of course.
I have no problem with state and local governments subsidizing rail, if they choose. In some instances, it may make sense. But subsidizing most routes that Amtrak runs is pure madness.I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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It seems like the option the Republicans want (and two of the three Democrats on the council) is to break Amtrak up into pieces which won't solve anything. The best way is to nationalize all the tracks and then let companies compete to provide service.
That would level the playing field with buses, cars, and planes.Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.Comment
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