Amtrak Joe: Look at President Biden's long history of supporting America's railroad.

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gemini104104

Verified User
President Joe Biden's long political history included years of advocating for Amtrak funding.
Biden earned the nickname "Amtrak Joe" as he commuted between Delaware and Washington for decades.
The nickname hit mainstream media in 2008, starting with CNN.
See more stories on Insider's business page.
When President Ronald Reagan in 1981 moved to trim $884 million from a budget used by Amtrak, Senator Joe Biden was the only member of the Senate Budget Committee to vote against Reagan's plan.

"You can't come back next year or the next year and change it," Biden said, according to a report from United Press International. "Those railroads will have gone."

Now, four decades later, Biden's in the seat once held by Reagan. And he's announced a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which would include $80 billion for Amtrak. The money would go toward expanding and fixing the country's crumbling railway infrastructure, which he's fought in favor of for his whole career in Washington.

It's often said that Biden's nickname is "Amtrak Joe," although it's difficult to pinpoint when that nickname started to solidify.

In the late 2000s, as Biden joined Barack Obama on the presidential ticket, the nickname started popping up regularly on CNN. The first record that Insider could find of a prominent news outlet using "Amtrak Joe" was from August 2008, when CNN's Soledad O'Brien called him by the nickname on air.

"Coming up next, more on the Washington insider who is also a proud Delaware outsider. They called him the Amtrak Joe Biden. God, I have seen him on Amtrak a lot," O'Brien said as she threw to a commercial, according to a transcript."

President Biden's legacy at supporting U.S. infrastructure and its relevancy at ensuring passenger rail with a massive over 20,000 mile Amtrak network is capable of ensuring the needs of society are met, and as the largest passenger rail network on Earth in terms of rail miles that includes high speed rail as in the Acela that is capable of exceeding 150 mph. This compared to a lawlessly hacked in gutter swine as a friend of both foreign and domestic enemies tRump who's business was to railroad Democracy and the common decency of humanity from within and its soul.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...cfRX2MUuXpvvP2LcwVfZa7Cj_JnAx4iMtDNpwbbRYfB-k
 
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So?

Amtrak has never made a profit. It's long haul coast-to-coast runs are the least profitable. They run at the smallest losses serving as commuter rail and servicing small venues with very limited passenger numbers that airlines either don't service or only do at very high cost due to the infrequency of flights to those destinations.

A 150 mph rail system is not competitive with air service for long haul travel, like coast-to-coast. LA to New York is 4 - 5 hours by plane non-stop. A coast-to-coast train at 150 mph would take more than a day to complete the trip non-stop, and if it had to make stops (necessary to reduce the losses on the run) it could take several days.

The bottom line is that rail service in the US is a massive loser. It might work in smaller countries, but with large distances involved it can't compete with air service.

In Biden's case there's art that imitates him in life:

Sheldon-Cooper-Train.gif
 
gemini104104 said:
President Joe Biden's long political history included years of advocating for Amtrak funding.
Biden earned the nickname "Amtrak Joe" as he commuted between Delaware and Washington for decades.
The nickname hit mainstream media in 2008, starting with CNN.
See more stories on Insider's business page.
When President Ronald Reagan in 1981 moved to trim $884 million from a budget used by Amtrak, Senator Joe Biden was the only member of the Senate Budget Committee to vote against Reagan's plan.

"You can't come back next year or the next year and change it," Biden said, according to a report from United Press International. "Those railroads will have gone."

Now, four decades later, Biden's in the seat once held by Reagan. And he's announced a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which would include $80 billion for Amtrak. The money would go toward expanding and fixing the country's crumbling railway infrastructure, which he's fought in favor of for his whole career in Washington.

It's often said that Biden's nickname is "Amtrak Joe," although it's difficult to pinpoint when that nickname started to solidify.

In the late 2000s, as Biden joined Barack Obama on the presidential ticket, the nickname started popping up regularly on CNN. The first record that Insider could find of a prominent news outlet using "Amtrak Joe" was from August 2008, when CNN's Soledad O'Brien called him by the nickname on air.

"Coming up next, more on the Washington insider who is also a proud Delaware outsider. They called him the Amtrak Joe Biden. God, I have seen him on Amtrak a lot," O'Brien said as she threw to a commercial, according to a transcript."

President Biden's legacy at supporting U.S. infrastructure and its relevancy at ensuring passenger rail with a massive over 20,000 mile Amtrak network is capable of ensuring the needs of society are met, and as the largest passenger rail network on Earth in terms of rail miles that includes high speed rail as in the Acela that is capable of exceeding 150 mph. This compared to a lawlessly hacked in gutter swine as a friend of both foreign and domestic enemies tRump who's business was to railroad Democracy and the common decency of humanity from within and its soul.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...cfRX2MUuXpvvP2LcwVfZa7Cj_JnAx4iMtDNpwbbRYfB-k
Click to expand...

200w.webp
 
T. A. Gardner said:
So?

Amtrak has never made a profit. It's long haul coast-to-coast runs are the least profitable. They run at the smallest losses serving as commuter rail and servicing small venues with very limited passenger numbers that airlines either don't service or only do at very high cost due to the infrequency of flights to those destinations.

A 150 mph rail system is not competitive with air service for long haul travel, like coast-to-coast. LA to New York is 4 - 5 hours by plane non-stop. A coast-to-coast train at 150 mph would take more than a day to complete the trip non-stop, and if it had to make stops (necessary to reduce the losses on the run) it could take several days.

The bottom line is that rail service in the US is a massive loser. It might work in smaller countries, but with large distances involved it can't compete with air service.

In Biden's case there's art that imitates him in life:

Sheldon-Cooper-Train.gif
Click to expand...

Just kiss tRump's $8 trillion dollar tax debt he owes the taxpayer and do what they do in the un American sewer that you can relate to..
 
The failure of Amtrak is thus another feather in Bidens cap. Passenger railroad service was never supposed to make money, rarely do they make money, Amtrak losing money is not why they have failed. Bad management is why they have failed, there has been intense interest to remove ownership of the North East Corridor from Amtrak because they have over decades done such a poor job with the NEC. Sure a part of the problem is lack of money but over and over again Amtrak has bungled the job.

Note: Metro North operates and maintains track owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York and the Connecticut Department of Transportation, about 15% of the NEC. They also are bunglers.
 
If you look at Amtrak's business model and finances, you can easily see the company is fucked up like a soup sandwich.

Since inception, Amtrak has received over $46 billion in subsidies to operate.

It's short haul rail service (under 400 miles) represents 89% of passengers carried and 80% of ticket sales.
The North East Corridor (NEC) represents 38% of all passengers and 56% of total revenues.

https://www.investopedia.com/articl...rak transported 32.5 million people in 2019.

The takeaway from all of this is that Amtrak can't sustain a profitable system of passenger rail nationwide. There simply isn't the customer base for it. The cost of the necessary infrastructure to support such operations is far too high. Where Amtrak comes closest to being profitable is in the areas of the two coasts where population density is far higher than the nation as a whole.
Compared to air travel, passenger rail is inflexible, slow, unresponsive to change, and really just outdated outside the niche of commuter rail in very high population density areas.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
If you look at Amtrak's business model and finances, you can easily see the company is fucked up like a soup sandwich.

Since inception, Amtrak has received over $46 billion in subsidies to operate.

It's short haul rail service (under 400 miles) represents 89% of passengers carried and 80% of ticket sales.
The North East Corridor (NEC) represents 38% of all passengers and 56% of total revenues.

https://www.investopedia.com/articl...rak transported 32.5 million people in 2019.

The takeaway from all of this is that Amtrak can't sustain a profitable system of passenger rail nationwide. There simply isn't the customer base for it. The cost of the necessary infrastructure to support such operations is far too high. Where Amtrak comes closest to being profitable is in the areas of the two coasts where population density is far higher than the nation as a whole.
Compared to air travel, passenger rail is inflexible, slow, unresponsive to change, and really just outdated outside the niche of commuter rail in very high population density areas.
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Amtrak was never intended to make money, that fantasy came later.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Amtrak was never intended to make money, that fantasy came later.
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Pretty much. Amtrak is like most other publicly held mass transit, a money pit. Mass transit could work at a profit potentially in many locations if it were privately run for profit. It might be a bit more expensive and have less frills run that way, but it could run at a profit. Airlines are a form of mass transit and they run at a profit. There is no reason a rail system, be it a subway, commuter rail, or heavy passenger rail couldn't as well other than the incompetence of government being the management behind it.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
Pretty much. Amtrak is like most other publicly held mass transit, a money pit. Mass transit could work at a profit potentially in many locations if it were privately run for profit. It might be a bit more expensive and have less frills run that way, but it could run at a profit. Airlines are a form of mass transit and they run at a profit. There is no reason a rail system, be it a subway, commuter rail, or heavy passenger rail couldn't as well other than the incompetence of government being the management behind it.
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Take a look at the link for some information on how Amtrak has mismanaged the NEC.....just a taste mind you....the bungling has been extensive....and let me assure you Biden was never of any help.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-94/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-94.htm
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Take a look at the link for some information on how Amtrak has mismanaged the NEC.....just a taste mind you....the bungling has been extensive....and let me assure you Biden was never of any help.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-94/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-94.htm
Click to expand...

Yep. As a microcosm of that, Amtrak sells a hamburger in their dining car for $9.50 and it costs taxpayers an additional $6.65 on top of that for it. I don't know how a burger could cost $16.15 when you can get one for way less anywhere from Micky D's to sit down restaurants like Red Robin. I doubt that the fact the kitchen is on a rail car makes any difference.

https://www.politico.com/story/2012...ood, it adds to deficit spending,’” Mica said.

The Atlantic says that that ridiculous cost is due primarily to "Theft, waste, and bad oversight."

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/08/your-950-hamburger-costs-amtrak-fortune/325114/

Yet, Slow Joke Biden, the Amtrak ridin' lop from Delaware wants to foist more of this sort of utter stupidity on the nation because--well, when you're on the Left, choo-choo trains are really cool...
 
T. A. Gardner said:
Yep. As a microcosm of that, Amtrak sells a hamburger in their dining car for $9.50 and it costs taxpayers an additional $6.65 on top of that for it. I don't know how a burger could cost $16.15 when you can get one for way less anywhere from Micky D's to sit down restaurants like Red Robin. I doubt that the fact the kitchen is on a rail car makes any difference.

https://www.politico.com/story/2012...ood, it adds to deficit spending,’” Mica said.

The Atlantic says that that ridiculous cost is due primarily to "Theft, waste, and bad oversight."

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/08/your-950-hamburger-costs-amtrak-fortune/325114/

Yet, Slow Joke Biden, the Amtrak ridin' lop from Delaware wants to foist more of this sort of utter stupidity on the nation because--well, when you're on the Left, choo-choo trains are really cool...
Click to expand...

I never expect passenger rail to make money and I think passenger rail is generally worthy of extensive government support. However, I am offended that Biden has been allowed to brand himself Amtrak Joe even though Amtrak is a disaster of an organization and over his entire career he could rarely be bothered to lift a finger. It is yet another window into the fraud of Biden. Biden on his own has long had enough power that he could have made a huge difference in the operation of Amtrak, but he never did, he was never that interested.....it was the brand that he was after....Everyman Joe....he rides Amtrak.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
I never expect passenger rail to make money and I think passenger rail is generally worthy of extensive government support. However, I am offended that Biden has been allowed to brand himself Amtrak Joe even though Amtrak is a disaster of an organization and over his entire career he could rarely be bothered to lift a finger. It is yet another window into the fraud of Biden. Biden on his own has long had enough power that he could have made a huge difference in the operation of Amtrak, but he never did, he was never that interested.....it was the brand that he was after....Everyman Joe....he rides Amtrak.
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I can grudgingly accept that some passenger rail service is necessary and that it might be government subsidized, but it should still be as efficient as possible. On the other hand, spending upwards of a trillion plus on high speed coast-to-coast rail is absurd and beyond idiotic. There is absolutely no need for it and if built it would hemorrhage billions a year. That is just completely insane.

For example, can you imagine what it would cost to run high speed rail through the Allegany Mountains, then the Rocky's then the Sierra Nevada and Coastal ranges? Just those mountain ranges would make the cost insane.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
I can grudgingly accept that some passenger rail service is necessary and that it might be government subsidized, but it should still be as efficient as possible. On the other hand, spending upwards of a trillion plus on high speed coast-to-coast rail is absurd and beyond idiotic. There is absolutely no need for it and if built it would hemorrhage billions a year. That is just completely insane.
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I adore HSR, I was in Germany as the ICE network was rapidly expanding, I used it a lot. It could make a lot of sense in America but a national network would likely only make sense if large numbers of people would be willing to take overnight trains. That did not make a lot of sense before UBER, because bus and commuter rail dont generally operate overnite, but Uber can. Also people are used to first class airline beds, they dont have the expectation of a cabin anymore, lots more people can be comfortably packed into these overnight HSR trains. However, this is too big of a project for America now, America is too broken to get such a thing done at reasonable expense.....I am talking about the impossibility of getting the dedicated rail lines built....the courts would never allow it.
 
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T. A. Gardner said:
So?

Amtrak has never made a profit. It's long haul coast-to-coast runs are the least profitable. They run at the smallest losses serving as commuter rail and servicing small venues with very limited passenger numbers that airlines either don't service or only do at very high cost due to the infrequency of flights to those destinations.

A 150 mph rail system is not competitive with air service for long haul travel, like coast-to-coast. LA to New York is 4 - 5 hours by plane non-stop. A coast-to-coast train at 150 mph would take more than a day to complete the trip non-stop, and if it had to make stops (necessary to reduce the losses on the run) it could take several days.

The bottom line is that rail service in the US is a massive loser. It might work in smaller countries, but with large distances involved it can't compete with air service.

In Biden's case there's art that imitates him in life:
Click to expand...

Obvious you never lived in the Northeast because if you did you wouldn't make those statements about air travel between the cities

I agree Amtrack is mismanaged, but one of the reasons they lose money is because the Federal Gov't insists, due to Congressmen from across the nation, they give equal service to those areas as they do the Northeast, which often isn't needed nor practical. The Senator from Nebraska isn't going to approve funding unless his State gets something equal attention

Mass transit is the future, if you ever spent time in European nations you'd see the obvious, Florida can't adding extra lines to highways forever
 
archives said:
Nah, you could build bullet trains coast to coast and suicide by train would still be minuscular compared to guns and such
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The courts would demand security systems that would ruin the economics of a HSR system. Liability law in America is now completely jacked up.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
The courts would demand security systems that would ruin the economics of a HSR system. Liability law in America is now completely jacked up.
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You don't need it everywhere, you don't even need rail service everywhere, and why let possibilities limit potential
 
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