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Want to keep Amtrak service? Get married and start making babies. Seriously - that's DOT policy now. [1]
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Date: 2025-02-06
From TRAINS magazine:
WASHINGTON — If you thought Federal Railroad Administration grant programs for things like passenger service, shortline track maintenance, and grade crossing elimination projects would be the least likely place to become a front in the culture wars, think again. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Jan. 29 issued a memo ordering Department of Transportation agencies to “identify and eliminate all orders, directives, rules, regulations, notices, guidance documents, funding agreements, programs, and policy statements” that the Biden Administration issued and relate “in any way to climate change, ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions, racial equity, gender identity, ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ goals, environmental justice, or the Justice 40 Initiative.”
But wait — there's more.
Duffy subsequently issued an order “ensuring reliance upon sound economic analysis in Department of Transportation policies, programs, and activities.” Despite the dry title, the order has caught the attention of major media outlets. Why? A portion of the memo says preference should be given to funding projects that are located in “communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.”
emphasis added
You can’t make this stuff up.
In case you are wondering what qualifies Sean Duffy to be Secretary of Transportation, here’s an excerpt from his wikipedia entry:
There’s more at the TRAINS article. What the Trump administration is doing will have wide ranging effects on the entire rail system (and transportation overall), including rail safety. (More East Palestines, anyone?)
Conservatives have long demanded Amtrak make a profit or get out of the passenger rail business — and the press too often repeats the incorrect statement that Amtrak is expected to show a profit. Jim Mathews, President and CEO of the Rail Passengers Association, has the real story.
.So very much to pick apart here. But I guess I’ll start with the idea that driving and flying “remain the overwhelming preference for Americans.” Well, in many instances it’s true that people are more likely to drive or to fly – but that’s because the Federal government has generously subsidized driving and flying options at many multiples of the funding made available to passenger rail, and those subsidies have in some cases made those experiences better, and easier, and less expensive. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) pushed back last week, and I agree wholeheartedly with him. He pointed out that just since 2008 highways have received more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in Federal support. That’s around seven- or eight-times what passenger rail has received in the same period. ...I continue to read in news accounts and on social media comments the assertion that the law requires Amtrak to make a profit, or that Amtrak is a private company designed to make a profit rather than a government entity. The people who write these things, whether they're reporters or just online commenters, usually say this with a certainty that makes it sound as if they know what they're talking about. But they don't. They're wrong. The contention that Amtrak is required to make a profit is incorrect. Hogwash, nonsense, b.s., prattle, hooey, baloney, bunk, poppycock, balderdash...pick your favorite word, but it’s just not true. That stopped being true in 1978, when Congress amended the law creating and authorizing Amtrak.
The change has since been confirmed several times, including two Supreme Court rulings.
Under the Biden Administration, Amtrak embarked on an ambitious program of long-needed infrastructure investments. Those are all in jeopardy now. As Mathews notes:
The Portal Bridge project — addressing a serious rail bottleneck in the Northeast Corridor. www.amtrak.com/... Moreover, the 2024 Amtrak is nothing like the pre-pandemic Amtrak. Back then, our government-supported rail operator was, by and large, a rail operator. Today, our nationalized rail operator is also a construction company responsible for managing tens of billions of dollars for building bridges, tunnels, stations, and more – with all the overhead in project-management staff and capital delivery that this entails. Asking the 2024 version of Amtrak – part rail operator, part construction conglomerate – to pretend to make a profit now is tying cinder blocks around their ankles and telling them to run a marathon. Paradoxically, it also makes Amtrak look much worse than it actually is. Amtrak can fairly be described as a successful government agency that does a pretty solid job with the public monies it gets, thanks to high farebox recovery, broad daily service across small and needy communities across the country, strong customer loyalty, and a return to pre-pandemic levels of passenger growth.
It’s possible that Amtrak could ensure continued funding with a change that would capture the new administration’s priorities simply by updating the paint schemes on their trains.
“The presentation of this collectible for sale does not indicate an endorsement of any political candidate or opinion by The Bradford Exchange or its affiliates.”
The Trump-Musk administration’s determination to eradicate any transportation programs and policies that would address climate change are instead going to accelerate it. Solutionary Rail has developed a set of policies that could harness the energy efficiency of rail and electrification to make massive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and reconnect America; that’s now off the table, at least at the Federal level.
In the face of all this, there are still things that can be done.
Contact your Congressional delegation (House and Senate) and tell them emphatically this is not acceptable. It doesn’t matter what party they belong to; the point is to let them know you are paying attention.
Look for opportunities to fight back at the state level. Let your representatives know how you feel about this, and promote effective state transportation policies. One thing that helps is if your state government has a transportation agency specifically tasked with rail, instead of being lumped in with highways and airports.
Join groups like the national Rail Passengers Association to stay informed and advocate for better rail. Ditto if your state has a passenger rail advocacy group, like the Empire State Passenger Association . If you regularly make use of transit, look for transit advocacy groups.
to stay informed and advocate for better rail. Ditto if your state has a passenger rail advocacy group, like the . If you regularly make use of transit, look for transit advocacy groups. Look for other groups that are addressing these issues. Solutionary Rail has a lot of information, and is working with groups like the Climate Rail Alliance. Check them out.
The world is made by the people who show up for the job. Time to show up.
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