On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 12:02:52 PM UTC-5, Clark F Morris wrote:

> 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.

I usually don't agree with Don Phillips.

I have seen televised Congressional hearings on Amtrak and they have
NOTHING to do with logic or service quality or efficiency.  NOTHING.
They are about a particular congressman or senator scoring points
with his electorate.

As mentioned, it is a Republican Party article of faith that Amtrak
is responsible for the Federal Deficit among many other evils.  People
have actually gone to the trouble to set up an anti-Amtrak website,
filled with false propaganda.

Railfans usually don't help, since they keep comparing Amtrak to
trains like the 20th Century Limited or Super Chief when those trains
were in their peak years.  Railfans ignore that trains in the 1960s
were mostly crap and railroads lost tons of money on them.

As mentioned, Trump spoke positively about Amtrak and about
infrastructure repair.  Whether he will continue with that theme
or what his underlings will do remains to be seen.  But, so far,
it seems the incoming Administration and congressional leadership
is loaded with far-right-wing conservatives who have an ideological
viewpoint that is anti-Amtrak.

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