Brooklyn architect David Grider had an interesting rebuttal to The Observer's story last week about the need for greater infrastructure investment in the country and the region, which challenges many assumptions about rail travel and even reminds us the Erie Canal was not the super success everyone likes to remember it as. Read More
The Obama administration is announcing the recipients of $8 billion for high-speed rail projects that was included in the federal stimulus, and it looks like the northeast, including the Northeast Corridor, which runs from Boston to New York to Washington, will be getting $485 million.
The White House posted this fact sheet with the announcement, Read More
Here's my sit-down with Mr. Kummant in August. We discussed efforts to improve Amtrak service out of Penn, the passenger rail's work with other transit bodies, and the development plan Read More
ST. PAUL--One of the more headline-grabbing stories involving Amtrak and New York of the past few months was a congressman's proposal for the federal government to take bids to create a two-hour train from New York City to Washington, D.C. The far-off, years-long, multi-billion dollar idea, which has passed the House and awaits a Read More
Will the U.S., particularly its train-happy Northeast, ever produce such fast rail? You know the Read More
The Delaware Democrat commutes daily on Amtak between Wilmington's train station and Washington's Union Station, a trip that usually takes no more than 90 minutes each way. His running mate, Barack Obama, Read More
I took Amtrak last week to meet with its president and chief executive, Alex Kummant, in his office in Washington's Union Station. We talked about Moynihan Station, the planned New Jersey Transit tunnel under the Hudson, the recent fare hikes, the many delays out of Penn, and the fact that a lot more Americans, in Read More
LOCATION: Explain why Amtrak wants New Jersey Transit's planned ARC (Access to the Region's Core) tunnel under the Hudson River to connect with the Penn Station tracks.
Mr. Kummant: Basically, look, this goes back to Read More
"Now that the recent rise in gas prices has everyone ditching their SUVs and running to mass transit, what will our government do to build off of the momentum? We are dumping billions of dollars into Iraq for, among other things, infrastructure, while the Iraqis pile up cash reserves (including in an account at the Read More
Amtrak's Northeast ridership was up nearly 8 percent annually in July, following a national trend of increasing ridership on the passenger rail carrier. Amtrak is on pace to carry a record 28 million passengers nationwide in 2008, a jump from the previous record of 25.8 million set last year, according to this morning's Wall Read More
Ridership on Amtrak's Northeast corridor increased over 3.2 percent annually in June, from 878,671 passengers to 907,316, according to new figures from the national rail service.A look at the most recent numbers for fiscal year 2008, which covers October through June, reveals an even sharper increase in ridership compared to the same nine months in Read More
"Jesus Christ, get over it. Transportation costs have gone up across the board for everyone, and every shipper. If you're bitching about $92, I wonder what you'll be saying two years from now when airfare to go anywhere domestic will start at $400, and the trains won't be far behind." ["Amtrak On Its Latest Read More
Last week, I griped about Amtrak's latest fare increase, particularly in the Northeast. Amtrak got back to me today in an email. It turns out it's not just in the Northeast; and it is partly due to higher fuel costs. From the email: On July 8th, we increased the fares on the following routes Read More
The Read More
Amtrak set records in May, both for the number of passengers it carried and for ticket revenues — all the more remarkable because May is not usually a strong travel month... Want Read More
