Obama rides a train, but stimulus plan House bill shortchanges intercity passenger rail
January 17th, 2009 at 12:20am Chuck Sweeny
OBAMA ON THE RAIL — Obama took a train Saturday from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., picking up Amtrak commuter and soon-to-be Vice President Joe Biden along the way in Wilmington, Del. The trip was a re-creation of the trip President-elect Abraham Lincoln took in 1861.
I hope that Obama will be an advocate for passenger rail, the agreenest of green transportation, but so far I’m not seeing a green light. At the outset of his administration, he appears to be an asphalt guy, according to a leading passenger train advocate.
Rick Harnish, director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Assn., says Obama’s economic recovery plan includes little money for intercity passenger trains.
“I just got news that the U.S. House Appropriations Committee released a summary of its proposed stimulus package bill today,” Harnish wrote Friday to rail advocates.
“The committee is proposing to spend just $10 billion on transit, with only $1.1 billion of that allocated for intercity passenger rail. Meanwhile, the proposal includes $30 billion for highway construction.
“President-Elected Obama has asked for a bill that will change our economy to be more fuel efficient and green. This proposed bill won’t do that. Please let your representatives know that this is unacceptable. This is not the the kind of change we can believe in,” Harnish said.
If there’s only $10 billion for transit programs in the stimulus package, and just a tenth of that for intercity rail, it’s bad news indeed for the Rockford area’s expensive Amtrak/commuter rail plan submitted to the government by area planners. Let’s hope more rail money shows up when Congress re-writes the Surface Transportation Act.
Entry Filed under: NO rail Obama
2 Comments Add your own
1. lyle nubbins | January 17th, 2009 at 7:58 am
Don’t forget we are already running huge deficits so every dollar of that $850 billion is raised in the bond markets. Then, the entire 850 B, with interest, will have to be extracted from the private sector thruogh taxes. So it is just more robbing Peter to pay Paul. And this is supposed to be result in some kind of net gain for the economy? No way, Jose.
The real solution is to reinvigorate employment, consumer spedning, etc. and also make our market attrative to investors is to CUT TAXES.
2. railrider | January 17th, 2009 at 8:56 am
This huge spending bill stinks! If they are only putting $1 billion to rail, and $30 billion for roads, what the heck is the other $819 billion going to. It is probably just a huge giveaway package to every special interest group to expand the federal government at every level. I knew Obama and the democrats would do this, they just cant help themselves. This is very little money for rail infrastructure, and I doubt our regional rail project will get anything. What a shame. Folks need to call Durbin and complain.
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