Trump budget cuts Amtrak (again)

[west point]

Excuse my ignorance but isn't just tax legislation required to originate in the house. That would not include spending would it ?

 

[Bonser]

Excuse my ignorance but isn't just tax legislation required to originate in the house. That would not include spending would it ?

The President proposes budget (with assistance from OMB) and sends it to the House and Senate budget committees. Technically it goes through House and then Senate. So Congress is the ultimate arbiter of all budget spending too.

 

[jis]

All money bills must originate in the House AFAIR. The others can give input of course.

 

[Bonser]

All money bills must originate in the House AFAIR. The others can give input of course.

You're right of course. Trump only proposes budget. Actual bill comes from House - to be debated, sliced up and so forth. Both houses have to approve it. That's why Trump's Amtrak cuts don't mean anything. Red states aren't going to cut out anything that serves them.

 

[neroden]

Presidents have been proposing budgets since Warren G Harding. During some periods, they're taken seriously. Right now they are all dead on arrival and ignored, because Trump's administration is proposing lunacy for every department and Congress knows it.

 

[west point]

The administration IMHO is trying to eliminate all regulation and any grants to opposition states ?

 

[AFS1970]

Living in the NEC, I often don't get when people talk about corridor service from Amtrak. This is because it sounds more to me like running commuter service, which in my area is provided by state service for the most part. Amtrak really only kicks in in the interstate, and even then is only cost effective if the trip is longer than an hour. Amtrak doesn.t seem to price competitively with the commuter lines, and I always assumed that was by design.

Here in CT we even have a new commuter line, which while I think the concept had some problems seems to be working fairly well. Of course it does little more than add trains to an already crowded Amtrak route. Not living in that part of the state, I can't say how useful it is.

Given this, when talking about Amtrak funding, I often wonder why Amtrak doesn't concentrate on the long distance travel and leave corridor/commuter service to the states. I think if this were to happen, we might make progress on having first class long distance train service in America be it private or public. As it is right now, long distance is only part of a portfolio and not a high priority one at that.

 

[sttom]

Living in the NEC, I often don't get when people talk about corridor service from Amtrak. This is because it sounds more to me like running commuter service, which in my area is provided by state service for the most part. Amtrak really only kicks in in the interstate, and even then is only cost effective if the trip is longer than an hour. Amtrak doesn.t seem to price competitively with the commuter lines, and I always assumed that was by design.

Here in CT we even have a new commuter line, which while I think the concept had some problems seems to be working fairly well. Of course it does little more than add trains to an already crowded Amtrak route. Not living in that part of the state, I can't say how useful it is.

Given this, when talking about Amtrak funding, I often wonder why Amtrak doesn't concentrate on the long distance travel and leave corridor/commuter service to the states. I think if this were to happen, we might make progress on having first class long distance train service in America be it private or public. As it is right now, long distance is only part of a portfolio and not a high priority one at that.

This map is why corridor service is a big deal in the west coast. You can travel 200 miles in California and still be in the same state. Why should we pay taxes for train services that don't benefit us. Our tax money in part, even if it's only like 5¢ for my share is going to go to replacing the Amfleet 1s and other assorted modernisations on the NEC. Why shouldn't we set up a funding mechanism that all states can benefit from? A system that gives us all some usable level of service and the appropriate upgrades? Getting federal money for things is a mess and you guys just get money, we have to squabble over it or hope we have a Senator with the clout to shake the money tree to have a hope in hell of getting federal transit money. Or at least that's how it seems to us on the west coast. You guys don't pay much for us, but we pay for you. And us all paying a little for our common benefit is the entire point of taxes and we want a better system.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Here in CT we even have a new commuter line, which while I think the concept had some problems seems to be working fairly well. Of course it does little more than add trains to an already crowded Amtrak route. Not living in that part of the state, I can't say how useful it is.

It is very useful--it fills in voids in the timetable nicely, although it could use a few more that stop at Windsor and Windsor Locks.

I visit my cousins, who live in that part of CT, regularly from NJ. Coming home, I have been able to take CTrail and then change to a regional at NHV. Going up, I have been stuck with the Amtrak shuttle. The difference is that CTrail has helpful, friendly conductors; more cars so no crowding; and equipment that is ancient but cleaned constantly and thoroughly. They have great pride in what they have accomplished and want to keep it going.

The Amtrak shuttle is crowded; the conductor attitude is typical inconsistent Amtrak--some are pleasant and professional, others are offhand and bossy. The cleanliness seems to be okay.

I am going up in April and am leaving much earlier than I normally would just so I can take CTrail instead of the Amtrak shuttle.