SAME OLD GAMES - DIFFERENT DAY?
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2645/3733607468_40f3ff445e_z.jpg)
Various Excerpts:
Union Pacific Director of Passenger Services said acknowledged that Southern Pacific had discouraged passenger service and....
The Pennsylvania Railroad merged in 1968 with the New York Central to form Penn Central, a railroad that was as hostile to passenger service as the Southern Pacific, though unlike the SP, the PC's services were noted for their poor quality and consistent efforts to reduce their scope...
So when they hired out good passenger trains were newly streamlined, clean, and respected by the public. Your job on a railroad was one of honor. As time went on everything slowly went to hell. Combine this with a total lack of sleep and you have the recipe for some really crappy remarks made to passengers. So when they hired out good passenger trains were newly streamlined, clean, and respected by the public. Your job on a railroad was one of honor. As time went on everything slowly went to hell. Combine this with a total lack of sleep and you have the recipe for some really crappy remarks made to passengers...
The railroad's intercity passenger service, like their New York City area commuter service, will be to my memory as Freddy was to Elm Street...
...AND NOW CSX? A RAILROAD THAT WAS BUILT ON THE BONES OF TWO OF THE LEADING PASSENGER CARRIERS OF THEIR TIME, SAY IT AIN'T SO!
BERGEN â€" U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., travelled to Genesee County Tuesday afternoon to implore the CSX freight railroad to sign a needed agreement so that work can begin on a high-speed rail line that would pass through this village.
The federal government has pledged $58 million to build an 11-mile-long track between Riga in Monroe County and Byron in Genesee County to serve Amtrak passenger trains.
But Schumer, whose trackside talk with reporters and Bergen-area residents was interrupted five times by passing trains, said the project has been delayed by Florida-based CSX's refusal to sign an agreement required by the federal government.
"Foot-dragging by CSX has meant that for too long the project has been stuck at the station," said Schumer, the state's senior Democratic senator.
The track, which in theory would allow Amtrak trains now limited to 79 mph to accelerate to 110, would be a test of New York state's much more ambitious plan to build a high-speed link on CSX's right-of-way from Albany to Buffalo. The multi-party agreement that CSX has not signed would lay out the railroad's obligations to Amtrak in return for the federal spending on their property.
CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said Tuesday that the railroad "continues to work with the Federal Railroad Administration, New York state and Amtrak on solutions that will improve passenger rail service in New York state while ensuring the continuation and growth of safe, efficient, green and economically vital freight rail service in the region."
Railroad officials, citing safety concerns, have said in the past they won't sign any agreement that calls for a new 110-mph track that's built less than 30 feet from the two CSX lines that now cross upstate New York. That is a virtual deal-killer, as the railroad's right-of-way doesn't have room for that amount of separation in many spots.
CSX's chief executive, Michael Ward, has been quoted saying he doesn't believe his railroad should share right-of-way with high-speed trains. CSX is alone among America's four major freight railroads in not signing any of the required federal agreements, Schumer said.
Schumer said construction of the 11-mile-long track would mean hundreds of local construction jobs. "They're holding up progress," he said of CSX.
While acknowledging that public and political support has flagged for the Obama administration's vision of a nationwide high-speed rail network, Schumer said upstate New York, with its string of medium-sized cities, is an ideal place for faster service.
More delay of the spur could jeopardize New York's chances for winning federal money to build the entire upstate high-speed link, he said.
New York sought $4.7 billion in federal aid for the 330-mile link but was shot down two years ago because its plans weren't adequate. State transportation officials have been beefing up plans since that time.
They didn't return calls for comment Tuesday.
SOURCE: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120118/NEWS01/201180324