Amtrak won’t roll into Rockford — or anywhere — under a McCain administration

6 comments October 3rd, 2008

Those of you clamoring for Amtrak passenger train service between Rockford and Chicago should know this: The five-year reauthorization of Amtrak passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate will be signed by President Bush, normally a foe of Amtrak. (The majorities were veto-proof, a veto would have been overriden.

This story in the Wall Street Journal gives the politics: McCain voted against Amtrak, as he always does. He says the government has more important things to spend its money on — the $850 billion bailout of naughty bankers, for instance.

Obama voted for the Amtrak bill, which passed the Senate 74-25.

“We spend more than $40 billion each year on highways…but only a little over $1 billion on rail, and we had to fight tooth and nail to get that,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. “This is going to change.”

If  passenger rail is your main issue, you have a clear choice. McCain will kill Amtrak; he’s a highway guy.  Obama will work for a balanced transportation system that includes more passenger rail.