Better Train Service in China and Bangladesh
But Still a Nice Stretch of Rail from DC to Charlottesville

"We're going 10 miles an hour over this stretch because Amtrak sold this track and the contractor won't maintain it."

That's what I overheard a conductor say to passengers on the way from DC to Charlottesville, Virginia to visit my Dad. No money for the trains. What a shame. I took the bus between DC and VA last year and the train was incomparably better. (Granted, I did luck out this year because I arrived at the weekend of peak color in Virginia). But what remains unchanging about this course is that I didn't see more than a dozen cars and hardly any roads. Most of the view was of farmhouses, woods, pasture, and mountains.

Last night, after visiting the University of Virginia, Monticello, and my Dad, I rode the train back to DC. Not only was it 2 and a half hours late--"here, son, take this card and call next time. He always gets held up in Chicago freight traffic"--the train had engine problems. So we sat in the dark for half an hour in the Charlottesville station.

The very same day, it was reported that Amtrak's president had been fired. Apparently he was not listening to the Bush administration. According to Railway Age, "Congress in 1997 instructed Amtrak to eliminate its need for operating subsidies before Oct. 1, 2002, even though it is rare in this world for a passenger railroad to cover operating expenses from the farebox alone without accounting tricks."

This from the Boston Globe:

In the past year Amtrak served a record number of passengers, 25.5 million, with a much reduced payroll. Admittedly, the system runs in the red each year and has a backlog of needed infrastructure improvements. But those problems could be solved if Congress decided to underpin its operations with a guaranteed revenue source, such as the gasoline tax that funds interstate highways.

What a good idea!

Again from the Boston Globe:

Just last week the Senate approved by a 93-6 vote a six-year, $12 billion authorization bill for Amtrak. Instead of jeopardizing Amtrak operations by firing a competent manager like Gunn, the administration should meet with members of Congress to devise a plan for the system that ensures reliable financing and a chance to bring high-quality, high-speed passenger rail service to all the nation's densely populated corridors.

What we need is real leadership on trains and public transport. We need high-speed rails running from coast to coast. Coasting...like they do in Shanghai...that would be the better way to travel. Not using copious amounts of fossil fuel to island hop.

And here's what else we need: metal detectors at railway stations. As one attendant said, "You know, I was talking to a colleague about this. We have metal detectors at schools, but not in our places of business, not in our transportation centers. Where are our priorities as a society? It's almost like they're waiting for terrorists to strike the trains."