Amtrak
Mica Extends Olive Branch to Amtrak, Dems Pound Rail Privatization Plan
Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL), the top Democrat on the Railroads Subcommittee, began her remarks at yesterday’s Transportation Committee hearing like this:
June 23, 2011
Think Privatizing Amtrak Services is a Good Idea? Think Again.
House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) is moving forward with his plan to hand over the Northeast Corridor to private companies, despite (or because of) the fact that such a move could write Amtrak’s obituary.
June 21, 2011
Mica Accedes to Dems’ Request to Delay Action on Rail Privatization
John Mica has blinked.
June 21, 2011
Rahall, Brown Say Dems Must Be Consulted on Rail Privatization
The top Democrats with jurisdiction over rail in the House are asking for a little old-time bipartisan cooperation in the Transportation Committee. They’re complaining that Republicans have shut them out of the process on one of the most important, game-changing proposals to come down the pike in a while: taking the Northeast Corridor away from Amtrak and putting it in private hands.
June 16, 2011
LaHood Defends Amtrak Against GOP Privatization Plan
In an email statement to Streetsblog, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood expressed concerns about the GOP plan to privatize the Northeast Corridor:
June 15, 2011
House Plan to Privatize Northeast Corridor Retains Public Ownership
Under the House Republicans’ proposal to bring more private competition to the nation’s most valuable transportation asset, the Northeast Corridor would remain in public hands. Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) made clear that under his and Rail Subcommittee Chair Bill Shuster’s plan, “the public maintains ownership of the corridor; we’re not giving it to any private firm.”
June 15, 2011
GOP Proposal to Privatize the Northeast Corridor Meets Resistance
House Republicans, led by Transportation Committee leaders John Mica (R-FL) and Bill Schuster (R-PA), have a plan to take the Northeast Corridor out of Amtrak’s control and privatize it. They’ve long called Amtrak a “Soviet-style operation” that loses money.
May 27, 2011
Cutting Train Budgets Could De-Rail Transamerican Routes
The idyllic cross-country train trips that many Americans still take could get derailed by today’s “slash and burn” federal budget policies. Meanwhile, fears for the safety of rail passengers in the post-bin Laden era are drumming up political support for costly security measures and raising, once again, questions about why the federal government funds rail routes without any promise of profitability.
May 17, 2011
Republican Response to USDOT’s High-Speed Rail Grantees
In my last story about the allocation of high-speed rail funds, I said House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) must be pleased to finally see the Northeast Corridor get its due. In a statement hot off the GOP's presses, Mica didn't sound exactly pleased.
May 9, 2011
Government Shutdown Would Be a Punch in the Gut to Transit Agencies
A powwow between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, President Obama, and House Speaker John Boehner last night failed to yield a compromise that would put a budget in place before the government shuts down at midnight tonight. The failure of yet another attempt to negotiate makes a government shutdown all but inevitable.
April 8, 2011