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The fact that coal traffic is down between the PRB and Texas, combined with the fact that there is zero freight traffic Raton-Albuquerque makes it even more attractive for fast, frequent and reliably scheduled passenger service. And the Raton Pass Route does in my opinion fit a potentially strategic and viable corridor, along the Front Range from Cheyenne through Denver and on to Santa Fe and Albuquerque following I-25. Because I do believe in the (mostly but not entirely UNachieved by Amtrak) viability of short and medium distance passenger rail, and that it deserves a place in said “national” transportation policy and so also deserving of public funding. So that fact that this announcement mainly benefits the SW Chief isn’t why I nonetheless find it to be good news. My opinion on this particular issue is that I don’t find long distance passenger trains to be a sufficiently viable transportation mode to be deserving of public funding as part of any “national” (which is too parochial when we observe that roads and rails connect all of North America) transportation policy. Though the Association of American Railroads may challenge the court’s decision, Durbin’s amendment again puts egregious delays under the federal microscope following a period when host railroads could reasonably believe that Amtrak had no legal remedy to enforce its statutory right of preference over freight trains. Court of Appeals upheld the right of Amtrak and the FRA to set on-time performance metrics if the law’s binding arbitration provision were eliminated. The challenge has stalled because the 80 percent on-time performance metrics have since been ruled unconstitutional, as they had been developed jointly by the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak. Repeated delays in that corridor prompted Amtrak to file a lawsuit in 2014 against CN (and another in the Chicago-Cleveland corridor against Norfolk Southern) under terms of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act’s Section 207. Durbin has been a vocal critic of host railroads’ delays to Amtrak trains during the last decade, often calling out Canadian National over its lethargic handling of the state-supported Chicago-Carbondale, Ill., Illini and Saluki.
Southwest ontime update#
3422 to the same legislation, which instructs Amtrak’s Inspector General to update a 2008 report, “Effects of Amtrak’s Poor On-time Performance.” It passed 99 to 0. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sponsored Amendment No. Speaking on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Heinrich specifically mentioned how Amtrak’s plan to “literally put our citizens in the back of the bus” by truncating the Southwest Chief would harm the communities it serves.Įarlier, Sen. Its clear intent is to tell Amtrak management that it cannot unilaterally decide to scrap portions of the national network.
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and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the amendment passed 95 to 4. 6147 states, “It is the sense of Congress that 1) long distance rail routes provide much needed transportation access to (millions of) riders in 325 communities in 40 states, and are particularly important in rural areas and 2) long distance passenger rail routes and services should be sustained to ensure connectivity throughout the National Network.” Sponsored by U.S.
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Senate to pass two amendments to the chamber’s fiscal 2019 transportation legislation.Īmendment No. WASHINGTON – Amtrak management’s refusal to provide a $3 million match that would unlock a $16 million federal grant for Southwest Chief route improvements, as well as an explosion of host railroad delays to passenger trains this summer, have prompted the U.S.