Damn, I should have put something about ass or boobs in the thread title... 
Anyway, It makes no sense that we have a 19th century rail system. This article contains some interesting revelations.
http://www.nydailynews.co...-1.2224949
DAILY NEWS
Elizabeth Robertson/AP
The fatal Amtrak derailment sheds light on the train serivce's true flaw and biggest failure: It was never supposed to succeed.
WASHINGTON — The fatal derailment in Philadelphia has drawn attention to Amtrak's permanent problem: It was designed to fail.
The Nixon administration launched the service as a corporation in 1971 to give freight rail companies a break, relieving them of a federal requirement that they operate a money-losing passenger rail service.
Officials expected Amtrak to die when it failed to meet a mandate to turn a profit.
“Amtrak was not expected to survive,” the corporation said in its latest budget proposal.
Instead it has lived on — an awkward public-private hybrid under the thumb of Congress.
Aerial view of Amtrak crash site. LUCAS JACKSON/Reuters
Rescue workers sifted through twisted metal and debris from the wreck of the Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia, killing 8 people and injuring scores of others.
Legislators force the rail service to offer money-losing routes and underfund crucial maintenance while bemoaning Amtrak's inefficiency. It doesn't even own the tracks it operates on in much of the country — freight companies do — although the Northeast Corridor is an exception.
“It's limped along for years,” said Robert Puentes, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program. “They didn't intend it to last this long.”
Before Amtrak was created, passenger rail service had lost the luster it had in the 19th century and in the pre-war era, when red carpets were unfurled at Grand Central Terminal for passengers to board the glamorous 20th Century Limited to Chicago. Americans increasingly traveled by car and plane, and from 1958 to 1971, 7% of passenger train mileage in the U.S. disappeared.
Now, thanks to Acela and Northeast regional trains, the Northeast Corridor is a moneymaker for Amtrak. Overall, the rail service expects to lose about $618 million this year on its long-distance lines, which include trains from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest and from Chicago to Los Angeles, according to the Amtrak budget proposal.
Trains on the corridor drew a record 11.6 million passengers in the last fiscal year, despite increased ticket prices, according to Amtrak. Amtrak estimates the corridor will generate $290 million in profit this year.
That profit, along with $1.4 billion Congress appropriated for Amtrak this year, helps to fund the entire rail system, whose operating expenses estimate for this year is $3.6 billion. Revenues are estimated at $3.2 billion, and federal aid goes not only to fill the operating gap but for capital expenditure.
The Northeast Corridor is not only profitable but economically crucial to the region. The Northeast Corridor Commission, a panel of state and federal officials, estimated that the shutdown of the service in the wake of the derailment deprived the corridor of $100 million a day in economic activity.
Amtrak assistant conductor Brandon Bostian had the train going over 100 mph while the train was in a curve, more than 50 mph over the speed limit for that scenario. Huy Richard Mach/AP
Amtrak assistant conductor Brandon Bostian had the train going over 100 mph while the train was in a curve, more than 50 mph over the speed limit for that scenario.
Amtrak has sought, but has yet to win, congressional permission to invest the surplus money from the Northeast Corridor back into the line for repair work.
The House has passed a bill allowing the change, but the Senate has balked at approving it.
Lack of funding is a big reason Amtrak has yet to complete installing Positive Train Control, an automatic speed-control system, along the entire Northeast Corridor.
The system, not activated on Northeast Regional Train 188 when it derailed Tuesday, would have prevented the crash, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Congress has previously denied Amtrak's request for $825 million to help speed up deployment of the system, and Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday rejected an amendment providing the funding along with other appropriations for Amtrak.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday called a question linking Amtrak funding to the disaster last Tuesday "stupid"-- but experts see a clear connection.
"It's not just a matter of human mistake," said Puentes, who said funding shortfalls leave the rail system poorly maintained.
Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman — an upstater who headed New York State's Department of Transportation and oversaw the Federal Railroad Administration before coming to Amtrak in 2008 — told lawmakers last year that lack of investment in the Northeast Corridor left the line vulnerable.
"We must stop taking this vital infrastructure for granted and start investing in the future of the region and the nation," he said.
Puentes said Amtrak's semi-public status leaves it the "the strangest government entity," facing demands to make a profit and requirements that prevent it from even trying.
"It's a crazy way to run a railroad," he said.
Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise. | 
New topic
Printable
Report post to moderator
amtrak's tracks are in deplorable condition in many places in the US yet they have not really addressed the issue.... so sorry for those folks who've been injured, lost lives and loved ones' lives....
so sorry for those poor folks. i wonder if amtrak had notice about the condition of the tracks?
