NARP Blog

Friday, August 29, 2008

Please note: NARP does not endorse or oppose any political candidate.

The selection of Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) to be Barack Obama’s Vice Presidential nominee has focused attention on Amtrak. For 35 years, Biden has commuted almost every day on Amtrak from Wilmington to Washington. There has been extensive media coverage of “The Amtrak Vice President.” For the first time in modern history, the word “Amtrak” was uttered in the acceptance speeches of both candidates of a major party. NARP has done several press interviews and I was invited to write a guest entry for The Hill newspaper’s Congress Blog earlier this week.

As I cautioned readers in my entry, while Biden’s support of Amtrak during his Senate career is very clear, Administrations of both parties have never been especially supportive of Amtrak. We all know that several Republican Administrations have tried (unsuccessfully) to zero-out Amtrak funding, while the worst sets of route cuts in Amtrak history have come at the hands of Democratic Administrations.

So, as I closed my The Hill blog entry, “If elected, will Senator Biden’s support and use of Amtrak translate into stronger federal support of and funding for passenger trains? Time will tell.”

The following segment from NBC’s Today Show on Wednesday provides a glimpse into Biden’s life as a regular commuter on Amtrak’s Acela Express:

--Dave Johnson

You may register to post comments in response to NARP-generated postings on the Blog. By registering you agree 1) that all comments will be relevant to the respective posting and 2) not to post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, or that violate any laws. We reserve the right to permanently block postings from any user who does not abide by the above terms. NARP reserves the right to remove, edit, or move any messages for any reason.

NARP blog

Biden Puts the Spotlight on Amtrak

Friday, August 29, 2008

Posted by NARP

©2006 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website

» Recent Entries

» Blogroll

» Terms of Service for Comments

» Monthly Archives