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Amtrak must be overhauled or junked, Secretary Mineta says
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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by RudyRockvilleMD</i> <br /><br />Secretary Mineta's ideas for reforming Amtrak are seriously flawed. <br />1. Leaving thru long distance passenger rail service up to the states the trains run through raises the question, what happens if an intermediate state refuses to commit funds for operating the train? You don't stop the train in that state? yeah right. <br />2. The concept of separating train operations from infrastructure was tried in Great Britain, it was a collossal disaster <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />Rudy, <br /> <br />You have a point regarding the potential for problems if states are to supplement rail passenger funding. I know that in Idaho the only current Amtrak stop is in Sandpoint at 2 am, not something that draws a lot of travelers from this area. There is currently no Amtrak service to Boise, Canyon County, Kootenai County, Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Lewiston, Rexburg, or Moscow, all metro areas larger than Sandpoint. Why would Idaho want to fund an Amtrak service that is only accessable at 2 am from one of the smaller out of the way cities? By the same token, if Idaho would be willing to fund a revival of the Pioneer but not the Empire Builder or North Coast Hiawatha, while Montana would rather fund a return of the North Coast Hiawatha but not the Empire Builder, while Utah only wants to fund the Zephyr but not the Pioneer or Desert Wind, etc. you can see where there would be unmitigated conflicts. <br /> <br />The separation of infrastructure from operations in Great Britain started out a bit rocky, and that was due to the fact that the degree of deterioration of the rails prior to transfer was grossly underreported. The proprietors of RailTrak had stated that if they had been made known as to how badly maitenance was deferred on the tracks they took over, they would have requested more initial funding. As it stands now, the British system is finally smoothing out nicely, proof that open access has possibilities here in the U.S., which by the way is the only way passenger rail will have a chance to survive here. <br /> <br />Separation of infrastrucuture from transporter opertations works great for highways, waterways, and air corridors, and it works for railroads overseas, so why wouldn't it work for U.S. rail? The Dukakis statement of "Balkanization" is ludicrous in this context, which shows why he is known as "The Loser".
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