Make Amtrak? Great Again

A new Federal Railroad Administration Study has cities across the West excited by the prospect of restoring Amtrak service. The report evaluates the potential for reviving daily intercity rail passenger service along long-distance routes—a move that could transform connectivity and bring economic benefits to communities across the region. For more details, check out the latest from WBUR Here & Now and transportation analyst Seth Kaplan: https://lnkd.in/g4VcyhZF This is a critical moment for rail advocacy. #PassengerRail #Amtrak #RailAdvocacy #Connectivity

Before there were cars, planes, cybertrucks, and electric unicycles—there were trains. People rode trains to get just about everywhere, from work, school, and daily errands, to holiday getaways at the national parks. As Meredith Richards of Rail Passengers Association, one of our guests in this episode, puts it, “Trains were simply the way people traveled.” So what happened to our once-great passenger rail system? How did the U.S. become so car-dependent that many Americans today ride trains for the first time when they travel abroad? In this first of two episodes on passenger rail, we learn about how railroads once connected us all, how public investment in other modes of transportation—but not in railroads—gradually undermined rail travel, and why in 1971 the government eventually took passenger service off the hands of the privately-owned railroads. Be sure to listen and share! Thanks to Bill Moyer, BACKBONE CAMPAIGN Sasha Elenko #solutionaryrail https://lnkd.in/gfTS3JFb

Amtrak makes our jobs as advocates more difficult when they allow this kind of thing to happen. VIA Rail Canada isn't having these issues with their LD fleet order. Perhaps Amtrak should go to single-level equipment and do a joint order with VIA. It would save both companies money https://lnkd.in/g-WEA79G

To date across the Biden-Harris Administration, nearly $570 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has been announced for over 66,000 projects and awards in all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories.? * 196,000+ miles of roadway are being repaired or improved from coast to coast – enough to cross the U.S. 65 times.? * 11,400+ projects to build, repair, or modernize America’s bridges are moving forward.? * 630+ transportation projects have been announced across more than 195 Tribal Nations.? * 580+ port and waterway projects have been announced by either U.S. DOT or the Army Corps of Engineers to strengthen supply chain reliability, speed up the movement of goods, reduce the costs of everyday items, and lower carbon emissions.? * 1,500+ airports are modernizing their terminals, expanding operations, or improving their runway infrastructure.? * 1,600+ communities in all 50 states have been funded to improve roadway safety for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.? Nearly 320 rail projects nationwide have been announced, including those that will modernize and expand America’s rail network, deliver the first high-speed rail systems in the country, replace aging infrastructure on America’s busiest rail corridor in the Northeast, make freight rail safer, and eliminate or improve 400+ highway-rail crossings. That’s a Big Deal. Release: https://lnkd.in/gRC6KhiW Video: https://lnkd.in/gj4W_vEf