Time to write your representatives and make some phone calls:

http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cf ... -05&cat=AN

adg

Amtrak needs to fix this problem, themselves.

..... If they were to increase their rates in order to turn a profit, perhaps they could stand a chance?

Amtrak has NEVER made a profit since they began in 1970.

It's a business, right? HOW can a buisness stay afloat if they make NO profit, ever?

I don't want to see our railroads become obsolete, either..... I love trains, but I don't believe that it's the Government's responsibility (or the taxpayers), to subsidize a failing buisness, forever.

Amtrak needs good management,..... not another bailout.

(Just my opinion).

(I'm terribly sorry if I sound like a Rebublican,..... I wasn't trying to creep anyone out).

I'm a Libertarian: Liberal as all getout,..... but I/we are all about "Individual Responsibility", moreso than your average Democrat.

*Ducks for cover from hurling tomatoes*

Don, I may as well "duck and cover" to protect myself from those flying tomatoes, also. Especially since I'll be in the kitchen at The Church this weekend, but I totally agree with you.

I'm a railfan also... just inherited over 300 rail cars (HO, N-scale), lots of track, etc.... and am even bringing a few of my Illinois Central cars for Arlographs. But, as a taxpayer, I'm not in favor of "saving" any business that for 30 years has failed to maintain itself.

My father was not only a railfan, but a collector of just about everything RR. His favorite rail line was The Broadway Ltd and we tried to get him a R-T ticket for its last run about 10 years ago. It was sad to see the route die out, but that's what business is all about.

I feel bad for all the workers (some of whom I know) who will lose their jobs. I also felt bad when the Navy Yard closed in Philly and friends' husbands lost their jobs.

I agree with you that we, the taxpayers, should not be subsidizing a failed business. Sorry, Arlo.....

Thanks, Terrie.

..... I must re-iterate: I don't want to see Amtrak shut down,..... but there HAS to be a better way to finance the endeavor.

*Sigh*

It MAY be a catch-22,... eh?

It's not a business in my estimation, it's a service that every country in the world subsidizes except us. We subsidize highways, airports, and ports, also schools, colleges and universities because we think they are necessary as a civilization. None of them pay for themselves.

The same guys who want to do away with helping Amtrak, are in favor of privatizing roads and highways in many cases, like they've already done in a few states. If it keeps going that way we'll end up having a nation where profit is the only justification for doing anything. But, it seems to me, there are some things that should be done whether it pays for itself or not.

Today most big American cities are grid locked on the roads and highways for hours each day. Have you been to a major metropolitan airport lately? Hours are wasted standing in lines for one thing then another. It costs us all when people have to spend hours getting to where they want to go and not actually going. Billions of dollars are lost and time wasted. It's not very profitable.

Yet there's a whole transportation system that works fine, gets you there on a schedule and it's fairly priced by comparison. There's nothing wrong with it at all except it doesn't pay for itself. But, neither do the other systems that function nowhere near as well.

What we ought to be doing (my version of what's good) is funding it way beyond what they're asking for (about 1.8 Billion) and creating more trains with more destinations that are fun and fast and comfortable and start getting people off the highways and out of the airports. I think we should be funding those guys too, by the way. I'm just a funding kind of guy.

We need to create a world where people can move about easily and go places, cheaply, quickly and safely. The more systems that are up and running the less likely some terrorist idiots can bring everything to a halt. We need to insure that we keep moving.

There was a time when people could do everything in one place. We were not specialized - I remember when I could repair my own car, fix the plumbing, build a house and barn, sew my clothes, grow my own food, and cook it too and do almost anything that needed being done. I remember living here on the farm killing the cows, pigs and chickens and munching them for lunch (I did become a veggie after that).

Those days are fading fast. We live in a world where we depend on each other much more than our fathers did. We need to insure that the future gets us where we need to be, and Amtrak is just one more good way of getting there. I'm saying just giving them some more loot to operate ain't nearly enough. But, it is most certainly better than letting it rot.

Yes,..... I remember those days.

I just spent Summer 2004 building a three room, 16X36 addition on my house. Now my oldest son has his own room, the little woman has a nice sewing room, and I have a woodstove to subsidize my heating bill in the harsh Michigan winters.

(I try NOT to be dependant on anyone/anything but myself).

Amtrak,..... Yes, we have a major problem with transportation in this country. (As well as the people who USE it). Too many people forget where we came from. It also seems that not too many people even know where we're going.

Capitalism is running amuk,..... Government is running amuk,.... *Sigh* ... will it ever end?

Unfortunately, I believe that this Amtrak issue is just a drop in the bucket, that it's just a small piece of the big picture of what ails this great country of ours. It's all a big mess, and it will take more that our current system of administration to bring order to this chaos.

Downsizing?

I miss the good old days.

Lets all go back to 1968.

Terrie - you're so funny!

You're coming to help at the church - which depends upon people (like yourself) to operate. If it were a business it'd be long gone by now. But, it's not. It too is a service that's worth keeping around even if it loses money... The only reason it's able to be there is because some people think it's worth it - YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!

Sorry Terrie... (now where'd I put those tomatos)

PS Once there was a depot where your kid parks the cars!

It seems a reasonable request to ask for more funding, especially with all of the less important stuff being funded. But maybe I'm being idealistic to think that our government could ever see it that way.

I like salt and vinegar on my tomatoes.

Gosh! This is terrible. I love train travel. Am heading from Brisbane way up to Townsville in north Queensland 1400 km (870 miles) away by train (takes 24 hours) for my holiday in August. (Yeah our states are HUGE here, just ask adg).

And I plan to see alot more of my other homeland by train on future trips across the Pacific. The City of New Orleans is one of my dream rides!!

How about something like a fundraiser on the CONO adg! Kinda like the "Festival Express" thing that Janis, The Dead and The Band did in '70 except with concert stops to raise money! I can see it all......... adg, Dylan, Baez, etc. (yeah yeah I know I'm only dreaming!But it could even become a movie! like an 18 min song I know of did!!)

From Little Things Big Things Grow!!!!!

It's sad about Amtrak. I've never rode on the train before. Sadly the high prices keep me from being able to ride plus no car after I got there & alot of the places we go to like Mikes sisters in Ohio don't have train service. Trains sound like fun. Mike talks about how they used to have trains going to the hillbilly areas of KY yrs ago & he used to ride them there...

Hmmm, a lot to think about! Yes, Arlo... The Church couldn't have survived all these years without volunteers, but that's how it was established, it wasn't supposed to be a business.

I'd hate to see Amtrak shut down the CONO or any other line (my father and some of my railfan neighbors already lost their beloved Broadway Limited)... but one fact in this country is that we have made ourselves to independent in so many ways that train travel just ain't what it used to be.

I remember taking the train every weekend to go shopping with friends in center city Philly. Now we have malls, and I can drive there! We have the Internet and I prefer to let my fingers do the walking nowadays... haven't been in public transportation in decades.

We've moved away from public transportation (for the most part, certainly not everyone).... people drive gas-guzzlers like SUVs and other huge vehicles. We want the luxury of being able to make side trips and not just go where the tracks are. Some of us prefer the "road less traveled" and others prefer or simply need to drive wherever they're going. I get carsick and so I insist on doing the driving, regardless of where we're going... I can't imagine being in a bus, train, etc.

It just seems that rail travel isn't popular anymore for whatever reasons. Maybe instead of getting rid of one specific line, they combine lines, reduce the number of cars (and, sigh.... reduce the number of people working on those lines) and find other ways of cutting costs.

I know that's not always the most popular solution.... here's one thing that happened here a few years ago and I think the whole idea was absolutely brilliant! We had this major road project that was supposed to bring Berks County into the 21st century (considering we share the roads with horse-buggies...)... but Governor Ridge (remember him?) decided that PA couldn't afford it without raising taxes.... so he dangled a carrot... he'll build these roads we desperately need IF we agree to a gasoline tax! Perfect... that meant that those of us who USE the roads will be paying for them at the pump. Apparently we agreed (my memory's shot) because we now have an almost-up-to-date road system here.

What I'm saying is that it's not up to ALL the taxpayers to fund everything that has to be funded. I've said for years that since, in the end... businesses benefit from educated workers, THEY should be paying the taxes to fund the public schools... not the homeowners in the towns. Or business should directly sponsor the schools. But that's another story, just a response to someone's earlier post.

Arlo, I think the tomatoes are in the fridge near the door.... I plan to hide them when I get there tomorrow

Gotta side with the folkslinger on this one. Amtrak was created around 35 years ago because the railroad companies in this country were abandoning their passenger rail operations due to lack of profitability. It was never contemplated that it would ever do any more than break even, but came into existence to fill a need that our great capitalist system was going to walk away from.

I want MORE funding for Amtrak. PBS, the arts, etc., and LESS for war, and I have already advised my representatives of that.

As far as "bailouts" are concerned, oodles of government money have been spent in the past building up, then rescuing, the poor airline industry
in this country.

I'll save my tomatoes for a nice summer salad, but maybe if we had listened years ago to some of those mass-transit and rail transit advocates, we wouldn't be so dependent on foreign oil like we are.

Did you notice in the article from Arlo's link that it said, "The same bill that cuts Amtrak increases Federal Aviation Administration funding by $877 million." Why fund air travel and not rail? Besides airlines having lobbyists, I mean. Maybe because as things are, it's easier to control who goes where in air travel? Nah, couldn't be that. Could it?

Some things just do need to be funded by us all. Schools? I have no children, but I am happy to pay school taxes because (1) somebody paid them when I was in school and (2) it is in my direct best interest (in so many ways!) that we have an educated population, now and in the future ... especially when I'm even older and less independent. Maybe one day we will. Even if I never drove a car or rode a train or plane, it would be in my direct best best interest that the food, clothes, medications, etc., can be brought to my local stores--or my door--on those roads, rails, and airways. Potable water, clean air, roads, rails, schools, healthcare, a 'safety net' of food and shelter. We all share the need for these and we all should share in their support and maintenance. I may not need overtly use one particular thing that's funded, but I'll fund yours if you'll fund mine. It's called civilization: taking care of that which is the business of us all.

We used to have good rail service in the West. It was cheap and efficient; I loved riding the Santa Fe Express 400 miles to see my grandmother. That's been gone for many years, about as many as she has. We don't have the rail system the East still has, and we desperately need it; the idea keeps coming up but being blocked by the airlines' lobbyists. Maybe if there still was a good network of rail service, we could have planned on being at the Church next weekend ...

CONO gone? Noooooooooo! The City of New Orleans is a powerful symbol of all the things they're trying to take away from us in the interest of controlling us and lining their pockets even more. Time to call our reps, write the newspapers, and sing Real Loud, NOW, Kids!