I haven't read the newspaper article yet, but it seems that Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican Senator from Texas, has given Amtrak a big boost, at least in this part of the country.<p>Now I may be able to get a train ride to my hometown of Odessa. Anybody have any hot opinions on the proposed rerouting of the Sunset (as I understand it from the radio reports). What about the new train from New York to LA through Fort Worth? Or the Aztec Eagle from San Antonio to Monterrey Mexico? <p>Can't wait to read the brief on this one!<br>



tnold@bigfoot.com

I have seen mnetion of such things on a couple of mail lists, but nothing concrete yet. Riding to Odessa would be a blast.<p>Since you seem to know so much about it, or know of sources for the story, we'd be delighted if you wanted to write a couple of paragraphs on the subject.<p>Or, if you're not feeling creative, you could send us, or steer us toward the article(s). Was it in the local paper, which I didn't read today?<br>Thanks.<br>



hkading@rypn.org

A quick visit to the Amtrak website produced the follwing (below) link to their press release. It does seem their new "market driven" route philosophy makes more sense than the existing structure. There was little in the way of discussion of proposed routes however.



Amtrak Press Release
hkading@rypn.org

I am about to run out and buy a Fort Worth startlegram> I hear it was bold type on page 1. You must have been locked in a cave not to have seen it on the news or heard it on the radio. It was on the hour and half hour reports for 820 WBAP and even was included in their quarter hour tease.<br>



tnold@bigfoot.com

>You must have been locked in a cave not to have seen it on the news or heard it on the radio.<p>Or, I might be working 10-11 hour days and going to night school:-)<p>I saw the article this morning. Normally my wife flags these things out for me. It really does look like things will pick up in Texas. Be interested in seeing the national route picture.<p>Also, I don't believe Amtrak will ever operate without a subsidy. Nor do I believe it should be expected to. I'm not sure how Kay Bailey feels about that aspect of it, but there is no doubt she has been a major multimodal transportation proponent, not just Amtrak.<p>Now, if Phil would jump on the band wagon, and really more importantly, if the US Congress would develop consistent bipartisan report for a national rail system we might get somewhere.<p>I think this is a step in the right direction. I still think Amtrak will be gone in a few years unless they get away from the idea of a self sufficinet national rail network. It won't happen.<br>



hkading@rypn.org

Truth of the matter is,no country with rail passenger service goes without some sort of government assistance.Amtrak must be commended for making the necessary steps to truly become an integral part of the US transportation infrastructure,and give countless more people the opportunities to use passenger rail service.<br> Now,if they could institute a Four-hour Houston- Dallas train(ala the old Sunbeam) that would really be something!<br>



kbcotton@flash.net