Railroad Nation

WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration is looking at the creation of a bond program to help fund high speed passenger lines, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has reported. Vice-President Joseph Biden has revealed the administration’s plan, saying it’s clear more funding will be needed to make the administration’s plan a reality.

Biden described the $8 billion allocated for high speed rail in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as a “down payment” on a national fast-train network. “We do know $8 billion is not going to put in place an entire high speed rail system in America, but it’s 8 billion times more than we had prior to the recovery act.”

Biden said the need for better passenger service is part of the need for “rebalancing” the nation’s transportation network. And despite the ambitiousness of the proposal, he said there is a precedent. “Let me remind you, the interstate highway system started the same way,” he said.

Biden, a former Delaware senator, has logged, by his count, nearly 8,000 round trips on the Acela Express, which goes as fast as 150 mph.

“This has sort of been a hobbyhorse of mine for the past 25 years,” he said, touting high-speed rail as a way to cut congestion and greenhouse-gas emissions, with line construction boosting employment.

As for that $8 billion, Biden said officials expect to have all the applications in by June 17 and start awarding money by the end of the summer.

President Barack Obama has announced a national vision for fast trains aimed at reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. He invoked the memory of President Abraham Lincoln and his quest to build the transcontinental railroad and dubbed his vice president, Joseph Biden, as “the nation’s No. 1 railfan.”

Other highlights of the president’s plan are the eleven high-speed rail corridors that were  indentified as possisble recipients of the $8 billion in the federal five-year stimulus funding.
He also cited the success of high-speed rail systems, such as those found in France and Japan, as positive examples of what future U.S. railroad transportation would look like. (more…)

WASHINGTON – Amtrak has released a new photography policy that bans photographers without tickets from station platforms. The policy, which comes in the wake of an embarrassing case of photographer harassment in New York’s Penn Station, was hashed out with input from the National Press Photographer’s Association.

The guidelines specifically permit photography in “public access areas” on Amtrak property, which it defines as “[a]n area open to general public access and occupancy that is not otherwise posted or restricted by posted signs or locking devices.” However, it specifically states that station platforms are for ticketed passengers only. For their part, ticketed passengers will be able to take photos from station platforms while preparing to board a train or immediately after getting off one.
(more…)