Amtrak to blame for Terror Attack????

[Amtrak_flyers]

http://www.railnews.net/cgi-bin/news/golin...nists/40890.htm

"NY could suffer a Terrorist attack, because Amtrak runs empty trains through Montana"

I used to be a Republican. I cant believe how Republican/conservatives have to use these scare tactics to fool people with their right wing agenda be it social security, drilling for oil, anti-amtrak etc, etc. I know this isnt a polictical board. But after having to listen to Mineta blow his ignorant mouth this for over a month, this article put me over the edge. It makes me sick!!!!

 

[AlanB]

Frankly I'm a bit surprised by this article. While Vranich has always made it clear that he doesn't like Amtrak, probably because they fired him, I don't think that I can ever recall him mangling the facts so badly.

On some long-distance routes, such as the "Sunset Limited" from Los Angeles to Orlando, subsidies are almost $350 per passenger.

Fact: the Sunset's loss is under $300 per passenger.

Reform? Congress set up the Amtrak Reform Board in 1997. But at least two of its members simply set about creating new routes in their home states. Mayor John Robert Smith crafted a line through his hometown of Meridian, Miss., while Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson devised a route from Chicago to Janesville, Wisc., that lost $1,000 per passenger.

Fact: neither Smith nor Thompson served on the Amtrak Reform Board, and the correct name is the Amtrak Reform Council (ARC). They both served on Amtrak's board, but not the ARC.

When disgusted Missouri officials tried to award Amtrak's St. Louis-Kansas City line to a private provider, Amtrak refused the company access to its facilities, killing the effort.

When was the last time McDonalds allowed Burger King to borrow it's facilities or vice versa.

People simply won't pay hundreds of dollars to sit in a railroad car for days and nights on end. But that doesn't mean the nation's railroads are obsolete

Fact: People are paying hundreds of dollars, after all ridership has climbed by over 2 Million in the last two years.

A 1998 report by the General Accounting Office found that "fewer than 100 passengers, on average, boarded Amtrak intercity trains and connecting buses per day in 13 states."

A meaningless statement, since it says nothing of how many other people were on the train riding through those states on their way to yet another state.

I do however have to disagree with you on one thing Amtrak_flyers, this isn't a Republican thing. Both Tommy Thompson, former cabinet member for George Bush, and Robert Smith are Republicans. So mentioning those names would actually discredit Republicans to some extent.

 

[EmpireBuilderFan]

Empty trains through Montana? Has he ever ridden the Empire Builder through Montana, especially during holidays and summer break? I'm struggling to say anything charitable about Mr. Vranich, due to the total garbage spewed in this opinionated bag of lies and half-truths, not to mention his other writings as well. Mr. Vranich, if you're reading this (yeah, not a chance!), go out to Montana, you know that part of the country you fly over between the East and West Coasts, and ask people in Havre, Montana, or Williston, North Dakota, how cheap the airfares are from this part of the country. Sorry, no Southwest service here. :angry:

 

[Trogdor]

Reform? Congress set up the Amtrak Reform Board in 1997. But at least two of its members simply set about creating new routes in their home states. Mayor John Robert Smith crafted a line through his hometown of Meridian, Miss., while Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson devised a route from Chicago to Janesville, Wisc., that lost $1,000 per passenger.

Fact: neither Smith nor Thompson served on the Amtrak Reform Board, and the correct name is the Amtrak Reform Council (ARC). They both served on Amtrak's board, but not the ARC.

Correction on this one. The 1997 ARAA (Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act?) set up two different "Amtrak Reform" groups, the Amtrak Reform Council which you noted, and the "Amtrak Reform Board," which replaced the old Amtrak Board of Directors. The board still carries the name "Amtrak Reform Board," as meaningless as that phrase is.

 

[AlanB]

Reform? Congress set up the Amtrak Reform Board in 1997. But at least two of its members simply set about creating new routes in their home states. Mayor John Robert Smith crafted a line through his hometown of Meridian, Miss., while Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson devised a route from Chicago to Janesville, Wisc., that lost $1,000 per passenger.

Fact: neither Smith nor Thompson served on the Amtrak Reform Board, and the correct name is the Amtrak Reform Council (ARC). They both served on Amtrak's board, but not the ARC.

Correction on this one. The 1997 ARAA (Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act?) set up two different "Amtrak Reform" groups, the Amtrak Reform Council which you noted, and the "Amtrak Reform Board," which replaced the old Amtrak Board of Directors. The board still carries the name "Amtrak Reform Board," as meaningless as that phrase is.

Ah, my bad. Never noted that they had changed the name of the board.

By the way, the routes were created by the consultant team that Amtrak hired, and the route that might have benefited John Robert Smith never launched. That is sad too, since that route probably would have done well. Especially since during half of it's run it would have been part of the Crescent. That would have reduced expenses for both trains.

The ARAA is indeed the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act.

By the way, one other little tidbit. Amtrak doesn't pick the board members, the President does, with Congressional approval. So if the board did make bad choices, I'm not sure that the blame should lie with Amtrak. At least part of the blame should lie with the White House and Congress for picking the wrong people.

Mind you, in the case of Smith and Thompson (both of whom I think were outstanding choices), I don't think that the wrong choice was made. I'm simply saying don't blame Amtrak for the board's decisions.