Amtrak, America's Railroad

Amtrak, America's Railroad PDF Author: Geoffrey H. Doughty
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253060656
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Discover the story of Amtrak, America's Railroad, 50 years in the making. In 1971, in an effort to rescue essential freight railroads, the US government founded Amtrak. In the post–World War II era, aviation and highway development had become the focus of government policy in America. As rail passenger services declined in number and in quality, they were simultaneously driving many railroads toward bankruptcy. Amtrak was intended to be the solution. In Amtrak, America's Railroad: Transportation's Orphan and Its Struggle for Survival, Geoffrey H. Doughty, Jeffrey T. Darbee, and Eugene E. Harmon explore the fascinating history of this popular institution and tell a tale of a company hindered by its flawed origin and uneven quality of leadership, subjected to political gamesmanship and favoritism, and mired in a perpetual philosophical debate about whether it is a business or a public service. Featuring interviews with former Amtrak presidents, the authors examine the current problems and issues facing Amtrak and their proposed solutions. Created in the absence of a comprehensive national transportation policy, Amtrak manages to survive despite inherent flaws due to the public's persistent loyalty. Amtrak, America's Railroad is essential reading for those who hope to see another fifty years of America's railroad passenger service, whether they be patrons, commuters, legislators, regulators, and anyone interested in railroads and transportation history.

Amtrak, America's Railroad

Amtrak, America's Railroad PDF Author: Geoffrey H. Doughty
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253060656
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
Discover the story of Amtrak, America's Railroad, 50 years in the making. In 1971, in an effort to rescue essential freight railroads, the US government founded Amtrak. In the post–World War II era, aviation and highway development had become the focus of government policy in America. As rail passenger services declined in number and in quality, they were simultaneously driving many railroads toward bankruptcy. Amtrak was intended to be the solution. In Amtrak, America's Railroad: Transportation's Orphan and Its Struggle for Survival, Geoffrey H. Doughty, Jeffrey T. Darbee, and Eugene E. Harmon explore the fascinating history of this popular institution and tell a tale of a company hindered by its flawed origin and uneven quality of leadership, subjected to political gamesmanship and favoritism, and mired in a perpetual philosophical debate about whether it is a business or a public service. Featuring interviews with former Amtrak presidents, the authors examine the current problems and issues facing Amtrak and their proposed solutions. Created in the absence of a comprehensive national transportation policy, Amtrak manages to survive despite inherent flaws due to the public's persistent loyalty. Amtrak, America's Railroad is essential reading for those who hope to see another fifty years of America's railroad passenger service, whether they be patrons, commuters, legislators, regulators, and anyone interested in railroads and transportation history.

Waiting on a Train

Waiting on a Train PDF Author: James McCommons
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603582592
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
During the tumultuous year of 2008--when gas prices reached $4 a gallon, Amtrak set ridership records, and a commuter train collided with a freight train in California--journalist James McCommons spent a year on America's trains, talking to the people who ride and work the rails throughout much of the Amtrak system. Organized around these rail journeys, Waiting on a Train is equal parts travel narrative, personal memoir, and investigative journalism. Readers meet the historians, railroad executives, transportation officials, politicians, government regulators, railroad lobbyists, and passenger-rail advocates who are rallying around a simple question: Why has the greatest railroad nation in the world turned its back on the very form of transportation that made modern life and mobility possible? Distrust of railroads in the nineteenth century, overregulation in the twentieth, and heavy government subsidies for airports and roads have left the country with a skeletal intercity passenger-rail system. Amtrak has endured for decades, and yet failed to prosper owing to a lack of political and financial support and an uneasy relationship with the big, remaining railroads. While riding the rails, McCommons explores how the country may move passenger rail forward in America--and what role government should play in creating and funding mass-transportation systems. Against the backdrop of the nation's stimulus program, he explores what it will take to build high-speed trains and transportation networks, and when the promise of rail will be realized in America.

Amtrak's Current Situation

Amtrak's Current Situation PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Subcommittee on Railroads
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description


Amtrak

Amtrak PDF Author: Rodger P. Bradley
Publisher: Blandford
ISBN:
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description


Amtrak's Financial Situation

Amtrak's Financial Situation PDF Author: Kay Bailey Hutchinson
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 078818556X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 107

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Book Description
A hearing held to look at the current financial situation of Amtrak and to determine the best way to handle Amtrak's fiscal and financial situation, including the best way to address capital needs. Witnesses include: Thomas M. Downs, Pres. and CEO, Amtrak; Donald M. Itzkoff, Deputy Administrator, Federal Railroad Admin., U.S. Dept. of Transportation; Phyllis F. Scheinberg, Assoc. Dir., Transportation Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic Development, General Accounting Office; Karen Borlaug Phillips, Assoc. of American Railroads; and Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison, John McCain, Ron Wyden, Daniel K. Inouye, and John F. Kerry.

Amtrak's Financial Situation

Amtrak's Financial Situation PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Book Description


Amtrak in the Heartland

Amtrak in the Heartland PDF Author: Craig Sanders
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253027934
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
"Craig Sanders has done an excellent job of research . . . his treatment is as comprehensive as anyone could reasonably wish for, and solidly based. In addition, he succeeds in making it all clear as well as any human can. He also manages to inject enough humor and human interest to keep the reader moving." —Herbert H. Harwood, author of The Lake Shore Electric Railway Story and Invisible Giants: The Empires of Cleveland's Van Sweringen Brothers A complete history of Amtrak operations in the heartland, this volume describes conditions that led to the passage of the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, the formation and implementation of Amtrak in 1970–71, and the major factors that have influenced Amtrak operations since its inception. More than 140 photographs and 3 maps bring to life the story as told by Sanders. This book will become indispensable to train enthusiasts through its examination of Americans' long-standing fascination with passenger trains. When it began in 1971, many expected Amtrak to last about three years before going out of existence for lack of business, but the public's continuing support of funding for Amtrak has enabled it and the passenger train to survive despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

Amtrak's Financial Condition

Amtrak's Financial Condition PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Federal aid to transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description


Amtrak's Service Reductions

Amtrak's Service Reductions PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Subcommittee on Transportation and Commerce
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description


Current Issues in Hospitality and Tourism

Current Issues in Hospitality and Tourism PDF Author: A. Zainal
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 0203075366
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 666

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Book Description
Globally the hospitality and tourism industry is evolving and undergoing radical changes. The past practices are now advancing through the rapid development of knowledge and skills acquired to adapt and create innovations in various ways. Hence, it is imperative that we have an understanding of the present issues so that we are able to remedy probl