Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

By

Let’s name a station after Joe Biden,

since it’s $5.7 million over the initial budget

Not only did the White House cite the projected cost at $32 million, but Amtrak used that figure in a 2009 press release documenting its Delaware projects.

But Ms. Hunter, the Amtrak spokeswoman, said the company’s original budget for the renovation was actually $35.7 million: with $20 million from stimulus money; $12 million from Delaware’s Department of Transportation; and $3.7 million from Amtrak itself. Ms. Hunter said the final cost reached $37.7 million when Amtrak added $2 million worth of work that was not part of the original scope of the project.

In its official Recovery Act report, Amtrak gave a different figure altogether — $36 million to the dollar — for the refurbishing project. And it said the breakdown in funding was $20 million in stimulus funds and $4 million from a 2009 federal grant, in addition to the $12 million from Delaware DOT.

and then Amtrak’s CEO ended up having to drive to the ribbon cutting ceremony, because the Acela he was riding was delayed,

What the rail company’s CEO and his counterparts left behind was a train that remained stranded in Baltimore for more than two-and-a-half hours as Amtrak engineers scrambled to repair a broken transformer outside of Philadelphia. The train, like many others, lost electricity, including the power to flush toilets. Passengers were allowed to stretch their legs on the station’s platform.

Others followed the railroad officials’ lead — frantically arranging to rent cars or find transportation to an airport. The train that the three were riding, which left Washington at 9 a.m. began moving again at 12:28 p.m. — roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes behind schedule.

Money quote,

“As one of our country’s leading public servants, our ‘Joe’ sustains a momentum for Delaware while helping steer our nation down the right track,” said Governor Jack Markell.

Down the right track of bloated budgets and broken trains.

25559
Share

By

Save the Dinky! UPDATED with VIDEO

The local paper has a story on a completely local item, namely the shuttle train from the downtown Princeton train station to the Princeton Junction train station. To take the train from Princeton to New York or Philadelphia you have to get yourself to the Princeton Junction (which, to add to the confusion, has Princeton address. Seventeen areas not in the Borough or the Township have Princeton address since “Princeton” is perceived as a prestige location. Prestige or not, it ain’t cheap).

The shuttle is called the Dinky. It’s been around for 145 years. Here’s what it looks like:


(photo from the Save the Princeton Dinky Facebook page)

What happens is that Princeton University, which owns the land where the Dinky is located, wants to build an Arts Neighborhood, and doesn’t want the the Dinky, so they want to replace it with buses. Then there’s NJ Transit,

For one thing, New Jersey Transit, which operates the train, has raised Dinky fares and cut off-peak service, much as it has done with other trains and buses in these tight economic times. It has also consulted with local and university officials on a proposal to pave over the Dinky’s tracks and install a bus system that would extend through the whole town. Such a system, supporters say, could reach more people, run more frequently than the Dinky and even ease a dispute that has long delayed the establishment of a university arts complex.

Not a good idea. Any of us who have been stuck on traffic between Princeton Junction and Princeton trying to get across Route 1 don’t want to be on streets – particularly in bad weather.

It’s not as if no one is relying on the Dinky. As the NY Times article, Dinky or Bus? A Town Is Torn, reported,

But if these are the Dinky’s final days, one might not immediately sense it from riding the train. On a recent weekday morning, most of the seats in the Dinky’s one open car were filled with commuters sharing newspapers and conversation.

Never mind the “newspapers and conversation”; when you take the Dinky late at night, it’s full to capacity.

As it happens, there already bus service through the Borough, which is rarely used at all by passengers. Taxpayer money, empty buses.

Today’s Town Topics states (no link available yet)

Official discussions about the fate of the Dinky will take place at a Princeton Future meeting on Saturday, September 25 from 9 to 11AM in the Community Room of the Princeton Public Library. It will also be on the agenda of the Princeton Regional Planning Board’s Thursday, September 30 meeting, which will be held from 7:30 to 9 pm in the main meeting room of the Township municipal building.

Considering how those two agencies have rubber-stamped anything the University wishes, let’s hope those of us who want to save the Dinky get our wish, for a change.

UPDATE:
Fox News report,

22107
Share

By

Back from the Zephyr

I made it home last night.

The only problem were the train delays. As I mentioned earlier, passenger trains must wait for freight trains and there is only one track in each direction (for brief parts of the trip there is only one track), so you must expect delays. There was one delay I didn’t expect, however. Yesterday afternoon the train left Philadelphia during a huge rainstorm, and then the train stopped somewhere between Philadelphia and Trenton for over an hour. I was glad I wasn’t in an airplane trying to land in Philadelphia or Newark.

What we didn’t know was that the storm had knocked out power for central New Jersey, which affected the train lines. Trains were backed up in both directions of the Eastern Corridor. When we finally got to Trenton at 6:45 I waited for the 4:45 train to Princeton Junction. You know it must have been something when a guy from the NJ PBS affiliate, NJN news, was walking down the platform getting soundbites.

Will I do it again? Absolutely, yes. I’ll probably fly to either Chicago or Colorado and then ride the Zephyr. It is an extraordinary experience. I just got this comment from Melissa, who I met in the train,

Fausta,
My husband Tim and I had the pleasure of dining with you on the zephyr this week and we wanted to tell all of the cynics out there that a trainride should be experienced by everyone at least once in your life. I don’t even consider myself an outdoor person, but when you see the sights on the train, the only word that can describe it is majestic. We live in the city and usually drive from california to denver but, on the train, you get to see the “Real America” that we tend to forget about. It’s also a very nostalgic experience that my husband and i will have for the rest of our lives. Who’s waxing nostalgic in an overcrowded airplane or when fueling at the pump. Who I ask you? WHO?

It was a wonderful journey.

Digg!

Share on Facebook

Share

By

The New York Post rides the California Zephyr

I’m riding the Zephyr for the trip back from BlogHer08 and have been reading an article Maria sent by Ben Jervey of the NY Post, RUN OUT ON A RAIL
THIS WOULD BE THE TIME FOR TRAINS, IF TRAINS RAN ON TIME

Ask around onboard almost any Amtrak train, and you’ll get a pretty short list of reasons why people ride the rails. In the café car, chugging along one of the country’s oldest routes, I counted four types of passengers. There are thrifty ones looking to save a few bucks on plane tickets. There are those who are scared of flying, a group that has no doubt grown in recent years. There are the zealots – without exception, older men – who describe themselves with charming lack of inhibition as “rail junkies,” “railroad nuts,” “train buffs,” or, my personal favorite, “railfans.” The rest – indeed the majority – say they’re here for “the experience.” Good thing for Amtrak, that romantic notion of the rails is alive and well. Naturally, it’s something the beleaguered rail company promotes to death. The experience is an important sell; nobody ever mentions reliability or practicality.

Jervey is right about riding the Zephyr for the experience: the views have a spectacul beauty of almost mystical quality, and the Zephyr is the way to enjoy them, much more so than driving through the same part of the country. I have driven trough much of the area and one gets to enjoy the views much better in the train.

You might save money over plane fare if you ride in a seat, not in a sleeping compartment. For a two-and-a-half day trip you will need a bed to sleep, so there is no saving.

As for the three other kinds of passengers, the “experience” ones outnumber all the others. While most of them are Americans, you will also find a good number of Brits, several South Americans, and an Australian couple or two.

While Jervey makes a long list of Amtrak grievances, the main problem is that freight trains have priority over passenger trains. That is the main cause of delays in all the routes Amtrak serves, and, as I mentioned on this post, the logistics for passenger rail travel in America are much different than for rail travel in Europe .

That said, I recommend that everyone take the Zephyr from San Francisco to Denver. It is a journey of wonderous beauty.

Here’s a photo I took right now, just outside of Reno,

Digg!

Share on Facebook

Share