Amtrak

Sort of like the cicada ritual, political wrangling over federal funding for Amtrak has returned.  The main difference: cicadas rise above ground to mate every 17 years – the Amtrak appropriations ritual seems to occur every year. Not sure what some politicians in the House GOP want to accomplish with a proposed 24 percent cut […]

SUPPORT THE PRICE AMENDMENT TO MAINTAIN AMTRAK FUNDING Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, I urge you to vote for the Price Amendment to the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill that would restore funding for Amtrak to fiscal year 2013 levels.  If this amendment is not adopted, the safety and efficiency of the […]

[As posted by Ed Wytkind in the National Journal] Back in the day, a Republican president signed into law one of the greatest infrastructure investments in history, linking communities across the country through long-distance highways. It advanced the nation light years, both economically and in quality of life. It physically put the United in the United […]

[By Progressive Railroading]   Leaders of the AFL-CIO transportation unions have called on Congress to establish a long-term strategy for Amtrak that will meet demands for growing ridership, invest in the railroad’s decaying equipment and network, protect workers’ rights and jobs, and reject “risky” privatization of key routes and services. The Transportation Trades Department AFL-CIO‘s (TTD) Executive Committee […]

For ordinary, common-sense Americans, the 113th Congress has a lot to prove.  Will our lawmakers finally reject the corrosive politics that values gridlock and inaction over progress, or remain stuck behind those who say any bipartisan agreement for the good of the country is, by definition, a defeat? When it comes to our passenger rail […]

 ORLANDO, FL—As lawmakers prepare to debate passenger rail reauthorization, leaders of AFL-CIO transportation unions are calling on Congress to set a long-term future for Amtrak that meets the demands of a growing ridership, invests in the railroad’s decaying equipment and network, protects the rights and jobs of workers and rejects “risky” privatization of key routes […]

TTD member unions are committed to an integrated, multi-modal transportation system.  Based on public statements made in Congress, early in 2013 the House and Senate are poised to consider the reauthorization of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA), which provides an opportunity to advance a long-term plan for Amtrak and our national passenger […]

[As posted by Kathryn Wolfe in Politico] Transportation and infrastructure funding has been in the spotlight post-Hurricane Sandy — but actually finding the money to invest in the nation’s roads, rails and bridges is another matter. The enormous open question is whether lawmakers can eventually find a solution to dwindling gas tax receipts needed to […]

The questions of how to generate more high-paying jobs in America and how to regain our pre-eminence as the world leader of safe and efficient transportation  are ones that shouldn’t be asked on separate tracks. We need a transportation network in this country that is interwoven and properly funded from our waterways to our railways to our […]

[By Keith Laing in The Hill]   House Republicans will hold new hearings next week on Amtrak, which Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) is targeting for funding cuts despite recent record ridership numbers.The hearings are part of a year-long effort by Mica designed to prove Amtrak’s nearly $1 billion federal subsidy is a waste […]