Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Amtrak

Senate Offers a More Multi-Modal 2014 Transportation Budget Than the House

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 27, 2013 | No Comments

Last week, a House panel envisioned some big cuts to next year’s transportation budget. TIGER and high-speed rail would get nothing, Amtrak would get slashed, and ixnay on all that green “livability” crap. (And that’s practically a quote.) The Senate Appropriations Committee voted this morning on the budget its own transportation subcommittee put together, and the end […]

“The Twilight of the Appropriations Process”: House GOP Gets Its Knives Out

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 19, 2013 | No Comments

Constrained by Paul Ryan’s budget and the sequester, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and HUD passed a $44 billion spending bill for 2014 – 15 percent lower than 2013 enacted levels. The bill contains $15.3 billion in discretionary appropriations for the Department of Transportation, also 15 percent below enacted 2013 levels and amounting to […]

Amtrak Looking to Handle Growing Demand for Bikes on Board

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 18, 2013 | 54 Comments

Amtrak can be a great option if you want to travel to another city sans car. But if you want to take your bike on board an Amtrak train, on most routes you’ll have to dismantle it, at least partially, and fit it in a box that for a $10 fee can be stowed with […]

FRA Responds: Amtrak Will Be Able to Use “Proven” Trainsets

By Tanya Snyder | Apr 24, 2013 | 11 Comments

On Monday, we featured a Systemic Failure post about FRA regulations in our morning round-up from the Streetsblog Network. Systemic Failure indicated — and Streetsblog repeated — that the FRA was unwilling to change its rules to allow Amtrak to use “off-the-shelf” trainsets and other equipment. The Systemic Failure post consists almost entirely of the FRA’s own […]

How Amtrak Can Provide World-Class Service on the Northeast Corridor

By Tanya Snyder | Apr 18, 2013 | 6 Comments

Yesterday was a tough day to try to get attention for a Senate hearing on the future of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. After all, at least one senator had gotten a poisonous letter and everyone on Capitol Hill was on high alert. What’s more, the Amtrak hearing coincided with the vote on gun control, one of […]

Congress, Administration Trade Gimmicky Ideas For Keeping Amtrak Afloat

By Tanya Snyder | Apr 11, 2013 | 6 Comments

At today’s hearing on Amtrak’s budget proposal, the nation’s rail leaders met with a different kind of Congressional leadership than in it has in recent years. The vibe of the meeting was significantly less combative — with the primary exception being Rep. John Mica’s reprise of his famous role as Amtrak villain. Here are some […]

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