BBC: US to break up struggling Amtrak
NY Times: Washington Urges Giving States Power Over Amtrak
Some loose notes (I plan to come back to this topic when I have more time):
According to this article in last week's Portland Tribune, about 584,000 people rode the Amtrak Cascades line (which runs between Eugene, OR and Vancouver, B.C.) last year. Locally, approximately 95,000 people rode it between Eugene and Portland. The State of Oregon pays about $5M per year for Amtrak to run two trains a day not covered by federal funds. This works out to about $52.63 per Oregon rail passenger. Does anyone know how this compares to DOT spending on I-5 and highways?
Multiple websites cover Cascades: (1) the official Amtrak site, (2) Washington DOT and (3) Oregon DOT Rail Division.
Additionally, AORTA is a grass roots passenger rail advocacy group in the region.
