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Flag Stops: October 2009 Roundup

Friday, October 30, 2009

  • The auto subsidies roll on: GMAC, the financing arm of General Motors, is likely to get a $5.6 billion new capital injection from the US Treasury “in the form of preferred equity,” according to two unnamed sources. [Financial Times]
  • Columnist Dan Walters offers up reasons for his skepticism towards the viability of California’s planned new high-speed rail corridor. He shortsightedly limits his estimate of the line’s economic benefits to the direct construction and operation jobs created. The indirect boosts to the economies of the cities served by the route—as they are literally brought closer together—would be far greater than its direct impact on employment. The CAHSR Blog has a point-by-point rebuttal. Meanwhile, CAHSR’s list of backers is growing by the day.
  • Travel writer Rob Lovitt heralds recent expansions to the Amtrak network—including the Northeast Regional extension to Lynchburg and the addition of a Portland-Vancouver Cascades round trip—and the railroad’s second-highest yearly ridership total in its history, as signs that trains’ popularity is growing.
  • The Gulf States are set to spend over $100 billion on rail projects in the coming years—no, we’re not talking about Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida (though we wish we were!).
  • CQ’s transportation reporter Colby Itkowitz contrasts political attitudes towards transportation in the US with those in Germany, where highways and inter-city rail receive equivalent funding because the country’s leaders recognize that transportation is a “major basis of prosperity and quality of life.” It is up to the majority of Americans who know this to be true to press as hard as we can to translate our vision into better public policy. [Streetsblog DC]
  • Amtrak’s study of returning service to the North Coast Hiawatha route is generating anticipation along the line, as reflected in articles in the Bismarck Tribune and the Missoulian.
  • LCL: An Amtrak service milestone reminds residents of Port Huron, Michigan, of the train’s importance to the area’s economy and quality of life. *** Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood issues an ultimatum to the Florida legislature, saying the state will lose federal funds for a “shovel-ready” commuter rail line if it doesn’t pitch in its share. *** My hometown newspaper strongly endorses North Carolina’s bid for Recovery Act high-speed rail funds, calling the expansion of passenger rail capacity “a critical infrastructure investment.” *** The Idaho Statesman explains local rail advocates’ concerns—echoed by NARP and Sen. Michael Crapo (R-ID)—with Amtrak’s Pioneer restoration report. *** A slice of life at a typical stop on a long-distance train.

    • —Malcolm Kenton

    Posted by Malcolm Kenton

    Tags: amtrak, automobile, california, cascades, economy, expansion, general motors, germany, gmac, gulf states, high-speed rail, jobs, lynchburg, north coast hiawatha, northeast regional, subsidies,

    BNSF/Washington State/Amtrak/FRA Agreement: Big Step Forward for HSR Program

    Friday, March 04, 2011

    There was an important and positive passenger train announcement Feb. 26: federal, state and BNSF Railway officials at last finalized the agreement needed to trigger release of the $590 million in Recovery Act funds awarded to the State of Washington a year ago.  Let the work begin!

    The “if-it-bleeds-it-leads” media mentality helps explain why more publicity has gone to governors who do not want high/higher speed rail funds than to those who do. Also, of course, it is news when governors turn down big chunks of federal money for any purpose.

    In an effort to bring a more positive focus to the passenger train issue, we are placing the Cascades award as the lead story in the March issue of NARP News we are now finalizing.

    For more detail on the Cascades success story, see the excellent article in the April issue of Trains that starts on page 46 (written before the Feb. 26 announcement). Trains explains the difference between approaches to date by Oregon and Washington, and why Oregon got only a small Recovery Act grant. This story should be required reading for everyone who has criticized FRA’s handling of the Recovery Act’s high speed rail program.

    Yes, FRA was understaffed to get $8 billion out quickly, but the evidence we have seen suggests that FRA’s decisions have been sound and—as FRA officials have insisted all along—will provide a solid foundation for a new program whose growing importance is continually underlined by world events.

    The “not quickly” complaint reminds me of what my passionately Democratic, late uncle once said with a smile about vote counters in heavily Democratic East Cleveland: “They count slow, but they count good.” Delay, of course, is also a result of tough negotiations with railroad managements charged with securing the best deals possible for shareholders/owners.

    —Ross Capon

    Posted by Malcolm Kenton

    Tags: amtrak, bnsf, cascades, federal railroad administration, high-speed rail, recovery act grant, trains magazine, washington state,

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