Parade magazine runs an insightful piece that tells our story with amazing clarity. Peter Richmond’s item runs in Sunday’s paper nationwide. I could not be more pleased, but be aware that there will be a strong push-back from the well funded special interests.
“The transportation funding mechanism is skewed toward highway construction,” says James RePass, principal executive of the National Corridors Initiative, a transportation advocacy group. “The game is rigged against rail.”
In contrast, the rest of the industrialized world is investing heavily in its train systems. From border to border, Europe is wiring itself for high-speed rail. The result? Decreased emissions and increased productivity. Some predict the eventual obsolescence of air travel on the continent.
How did we fall so far behind? Blame it on our love affair with the automobile and a historical antipathy of legislators for subsidizing the nation’s railroads. Our government’s disdain for trains began with FDR, who in the late 1930s turned his back on fat-cat railroad barons asking for federal handouts. Two decades later, President Eisenhower certified our commitment to cars when he built the interstate highway system.
The current administration has been particularly unfriendly. Amtrak, which is federally funded, received just $1.3 billion last year—the same as 25 years ago. Compare that to the $40 billion allocated for highways and the $14 billion for airlines in 2006. For the 2008 fiscal year, the Bush Administration pro- posed just $800 million for the railroad—a $500 million cut from 2007. In 2005, the President proposed pulling the plug entirely on Amtrak’s subsidy.
The Parade editors also run a strong international sidebar on Japan, Spain, France, and China. It demonstrates how very far behind the United States has fallen.
Filed under: Amtrak, Passenger Rail Transportatio Policy, United States High Speed Rail
Trains For America 
Thanks for the heads-up!