Amtrak's $630m Trump budget cut could derail service in 220 US cities

[turbinetree]

The routes have names that evoke glorious Americana and the frontier spirit: the Empire Builder, the Silver Meteor, the Sunset Limited, the Texas Eagle, the Coast Starlight and the California Zephyr.

But a president who ran on a nostalgic promise to “Make America Great Again” appears to have little interest in reviving once mighty railroads that stood as symbols of American capitalist ambition in the era of the robber barons.


While he has touted a $1tn investment plan for America’s infrastructure – which so far shows few signs of materialising – the president’s proposed budget included $630m in cuts for Amtrak that would devastate long-distance services.

An advocacy group, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (Narp), warned the budget “wipes out funding for long-distance train service in over 220 cities and towns and in 23 states that will lose train service completely”. Almost all those states are in the middle of the country and voted for Trump. Most of the stations said to be at risk are in rural areas.

Narp launched a “Rally for trains” campaign that saw events last month across the country, from Portland, Oregon, to Miami, Florida, via Wausau, Wisconsin.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/30/amtrak-budget-cuts-texas-trump-support-betrayal


While over in China, they are going into countries (Afghanistan and African), besides themselves to put into place high speed rail, to not only create jobs, but to compete in transportation services against airlines, and to help the "developing" countries to have access to there resources for china in the long term model.

While over here we have the Scott Walkers, Rick Scott's, Chris Christie canceling projects, and this countries mantra of being a world power being diminished because of "republicans" think the Koch's, Aldelson and Devos, Popes and Mercers and many others deserve a tax break along with big pharma and "insurance companies", and that everything should be projected by military might.......

[RKP5637]

1. How to bring a country down, by Donald J. Trump. n/t

[turbinetree]

2. We use to bring forth the Peace Corps or use our genius to project plans

to build not only this country but our own, now we are being used as a the third or fifth leg in a military triad

What am I missing..............

[RKP5637]

3. So much damage, in so short a time. n/t

[turbinetree]

4. We are absolutely seeing the unwinding of a country by imbeciles and it has taken only 6 months

for this crew and going back to Ronnie Ray Gun bringing forth his trickle down BS, and being aggravated by a Supreme Court, and a packing of the federal courts, that marching lock step into this charade.

[drray23]

5. so frustrating.

if anything, we should boost the train system, not defund it. It is a way more efficient way to transport people than two at a time and a car on a highway.
If we had trains like the french tgv high speed rail, we would save on a lot of short distance domestic flights as well. Yes it cost money to build but it is well worth it.

In paris, the tgv goes all the way to the airport. You get off the plane, roll your suitcase to the train, sit in a comfortable train and three hours later you are at destination in the middle of france (nantes in my case).

[greymattermom]

6. Sweden has a wonderful train

to the airport, which is between Stockholm and Uppsala. They don't need two airports.

[Solly Mack]

7. K&R