Amtrak: Blackmailing Congress
by admin on Oct.06, 2015, under US Politics
++ Amtrak warns of service cuts if Congress doesn’t extend safety deadline
Well that’s what it sounds like to me!
The Rail Safety Improvement Act, passed in 2008, set a Dec. 31, 2015, deadline for most commuter and freight trains to be overhauled with PTC — a new GPS monitoring and safety network aimed at preventing deadly accidents like the recent Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia that left eight dead.
I guess if you think you are completely irreplaceable, you can just take your time implementing safety requirements and then threaten lack of service when you haven’t followed the rules.
Wonder how well this would work for the average American? Not well I imagine.
The letter to Congress sent by Amtrak Chairman Boardman continues:
“Boardman went on to say that Amtrak anticipates that, starting Dec. 1, the company would need to begin notifying passengers of disruptions due to the PTC deadline. Boardman also noted that the cuts would affect both passenger and freight services.”
December 1. Just before the busiest travel time of the year. Is this a threat that would turn the traveling country upside down? Yes. But does Amtrak want to lose all that lovely revenue? No. So this IS a threat. They seem to predict that Congress will buckle – otherwise they’d never plan to lose even one thin dime over the Christmas holidays.
“Passenger service would continue on track that Amtrak owns, including a large part of the Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston. But service through parts of Connecticut and New York would be affected.”
Amtrak has known since 2008 that this upgrade of their service needed to be completed. Seven years!! Sort of like how American taxpayers know their tax returns are due by April 15th – EACH YEAR. What if we just blackmail the IRS to get our way, on our own time, and our own schedule, the way Amtrak is doing.
If Amtrak gets its way, I think they are showing US the way. Might be time to start implementing.
