On Sun, 18 Dec 2016 20:12:36 -0800 (PST), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

>On Sunday, December 18, 2016 at 12:39:01 PM UTC-5, Clark F Morris wrote:
>
>> Frankly Amtrak under Joseph Boardman, especially the first 2 years,
>> represents opportunities squandered and mediocrity at the top.
>
>Everybody seems to hate Boardman, but it sure seems the real problem
>was the Republican congress, who takes it as an article of faith that
>Amtrak was and is evil and ought to be eliminated.  That is, if there
>was a true need for passenger trains, the private sector would provide
>them.  They buy into the propaganda of the Cato and Reason groups.
>
>Let's not forget that they impose ridiculous demands on Amtrak which
>create inefficiency, then turn-around and blame Amtrak for the
>inefficiency that they created.
>
Read some of Don Phillips' columns.  They may be available online at
Trains web-site.  While the Republican opposition is definitely there,
Boardman had a number of things under his control including trying to
get the crash worthiness specifications to match European ones so that
Amtrak equipment wasn't so heavy.  In the first two years of the Obama
administration there were opportunities that would not have been
blocked by the Republicans.  One of the main things Amtrak does is
connect the smaller centers with larger ones and finding routes where
this could be done on a frequent basis (at least every other hour
between 6 and midnight) economically would have built support in
Republican areas.

Clark Morris
>
>

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