I guess that begs the question... which candidate would be most Amtrak friendly???
I'm not sure any of them are "Amtrak friendly", as you put it.
The most likely way we will find out for sure will be for one of us to make contact with the candidate handlers. This can be done, but will require a bit of effort. Better still would be for one of us to actually be allowed to put a question to one of them at an event. Odds of that happening, however, are slim to none.
In the meantime, I would suggest to those desiring more intercity passenger rail service in the USA to turn up at town meetings with the federal representatives and senators. While you may not be able to speak directly with The Man (or Woman as the case may be), you will have the chance to speak with staff, who are the ones that get things done. Should you do this, try not to talk about vague generalities concerning Amtrak, but offer specific, verifiable facts concerning intercity passenger rail service.
For example, I had the chance to speak to a US Representative in a district which had next-to-no Amtrak service. I said to this individual (after a bit of small talk), "If you remember nothing else about Amtrak, remember to ask about their on-time performance. They've been having quite a bit of trouble with the Union Pacific and CSX railroads." In less than 30 seconds, I had gotten across an important point concerning Amtrak. Additionally, I obtained from that Representative the name of the staffer who handled transportation issues, and followed up with that same quick sound bite. Even so, I wasn't sure what would happen, but one needs to try nevertheless.
Lo and behold -- a month or two later, a discussion concerning that very issue popped up in the appropriate House committee! It quite well could have been coincidental -- or maybe not. The point of this exercise is to try to push passenger rail advocacy even when success does not seem obvious. Washington DC works in funny ways; comments may rattle around in ways one cannot foresee, and come out when you least expect them. But they will not come out if they're not made in the first place.
I have little doubt in my mind that targeting staff members is the most effective form of lobbying of government out there at present. All it requires is a willingness to spend a couple bucks on the "rubber chicken" circuit. If you want more intercity passenger trains through your town, IMO, you need to be doing this on a fairly regular basis -- not the least of which should be in the
non-election years.
But pushing for better intercity passenger rail service now is better than not pushing for it at all.
