Amtrak rumblings
Well, the Bush administration has deafened everyone by now with its privatization song for Amtrak but they have also lost much of their popular support. On the other side, a surprisingly united Congress wants to support Amtrak and rising gas prices are making alternatives to driving look more palatable by the day. So the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that talk of compromise on what to do with our sad national railroad corporation is in the air.
Something interesting that the article talks about is a proposal to privatize the entire Northeast corridor, with the private sector operation controlling the right of way developing service with other operators beyond the traditional federal and state transit authorities. Some more details of these ideas in these congressional hearing minutes.
One sign that longtime opponents may be inching closer to agreement is that even Amtrak's traditional supporters such as Lautenberg, who believe that rail service is a fundamental obligation of the government, now grant that there may be a role for the private sector to play.
...
I think that politically [the Bush administration] have figured out that it is not worth the fight and that their goal of getting rid of Amtrak is something they just can't do," said Alex Formuzis, spokesman for Lautenberg.
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csa | 10:02 PM |
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