Archive
Archive for November, 2004
Vol. 1, No. 13 – November 23, 2004
- This week marks the official beginning of what’s predicted to be a record setting holiday travel season. Already the news stories have begun about local airport congestion and highway congestion. Conspicuous by its absence outside of the Northeast is any mention of Amtrak in the holiday rush stories, even in cities like Jacksonville that feature daily service from two trains in each direction and triweekly service from the Sunset Limited. Amtrak has got to start getting in front of the news media on a more aggressive basis to remind Americans there are passenger trains. Amtrak is losing millions of dollars a year in revenue because it doesn’t take the news media seriously unless it’s begging for more free federal money.
- Somehow, even though Amtrak got a little over $1.2 billion from Congress and the Bush Administration this week, it’s still continuing its annual begfest, and, in the process, scaring off revenue passengers because they think Amtrak will shut down any minute. Amtrak and its wholly owned lapdog organizations, plus the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General continue the idiotic drumbeat that the Amtrak national system is in peril because of regional problems in the Northeast, along the Northeast Corridor. Read more…
Vol. 1, No. 12 – November 18, 2004
- Austin Coates update: Mr. Coates, recently the victim of assault and robbery, is now out of a physical rehabilitation facility and has taken up residence in an assisted living facility near Nashville, Tennessee, home of his daughter and granddaughters. He reports his physical therapy went well, and he is currently moving around with the aid of a walker. A full recovery, courtesy of a new right replacement hip that is working well, is expected.
- Some Florida Amtrak Thruway Bus passengers had more excitement than they bargained for yesterday, November 17th. The bus, making its regular run from the beautifully restored downtown Tampa Amtrak station to St. Petersburg and south down to Fort Myers on Florida’s West Coast, nearly ran off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and dropped 200 feet down into Tampa Bay. Read more…
Vol. 1, No. 11 – November 11, 2004
- It was just learned this week that URPA Founder and Chairman (and Seabees veteran) Austin Coates was the victim of a home invasion at his apartment in Helena, Arkansas approximately three weeks ago. Mr. Coates (now in his early 70s) answered his door to a stranger who allegedly wanted change for the laundromat, was then assaulted, and pushed down, falling on the floor and breaking his hip in the process. Two neighbors heard him fall to the floor and came to investigate. Read more…
Vol. 1, No. 10 – November 05, 2004
- The wailing and gnashing of teeth was loud and painful. “It’s the end of the world,” wailed Michael Moore’s fellow travelers. “Even, worse, it’s the end of Amtrak,” wailed anguished rail fans and foamers. Read more…