Tuesday, September 30

Trains, for once.

Yesterday was actually a good day for AMTRAK. Buried in all of the media reports over $700 billion was a little senate vote to authorize $13 billion for Amtrak, mostly for safety measures but also to increase capacity for inter-city rail and high-speed lines.

A local group, Cvillerail.org, has been fighting for better passenger rail service through Charlottesville. They have the support of every governing body in sight. I noticed on the Uva blog today that there is talk of adding another daily line through town. In the midst of high gas prices, I'm surprised there is not more of a groundswell for changes like this. Most people I talk to think a viable rail infrastructure would be pretty cool (always referencing a Eurorail trip taken during college) but the conversation usually just stops right there.

1 comment:

Dave said...

It was a great day for Amtrak. I caught the Amtrak from Chicago (Glenview a burb) to Milwaukee and well it was really busy. It is such a nice way to travel between cities, and actually more affordable than driving.