Amtrak Surprise
Amtrak's Texas Eagle, on the right, and a Trinity Railway Express train, on the left, in downtown Fort Worth.
A fine side benefit of the crappy economy: Amtrak trains in the middle of the country are running on time!
Sometimes, at least.
That was the fortunate case for me last week on the Texas Eagle from Dallas to Austin.
In the first half of 2008, the Texas Eagle was the worst Amtrak line, running on time only 14.3 percent of the time. It was on time zero times in July.
A quick glance of the most recent Texas Eagle trains shows more are running on time than not.
The main reason for the delays is that Amtrak does not own the rail lines, outside of the Northeast. Hence, passenger trains must yield to freight traffic.
But the current recession has reduced freight traffic, making for more on-time trains.
This is all fine and dandy, but what happens when the economy recovers?
Unfortunately, the House’s latest version of the massive stimulus plan seriously neglects passenger rail, allotting it only $1.1 billion.
A sad affair.
Please, Vice President-Elect Biden, Mr. Amtrak, don’t let passenger rail service get the shaft!
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Tags: amtrak, on time, texas eagle
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