I just took a ride between New York City's Pennsylvania Station and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on always beleaguered Amtrak, the U.S. national passenger railroad system, and saw some notable changes since my last time on the rails a year ago.
Most of those changes have to do with security - namely, there is a lot more of it, especfially those aspects of security that are designed to be visible. While I waited for the evening departure of my train below the low roof of busy Penn Station, I saw a number of Amtrak Police on duty as well as fatigue-clad regular soldiers with sidearms strapped to their thighs. Mounted video screens played a repeating loop of interviews with dog handlers whose charges sniff out possible explosives on the trains and in the stations. Travelers are now told they must carry photo identification and be prepared to show it, though no one in the station or on the train asked to see mine. Travelers were also told to be ready to have their luggage inspected, though this didn't happen in my carriage, either.
All this, of course, has come about because of recovered documents in the Pakistan lair of the late Osama bin Laden that mentioned targeting U.S. trains for future terror attacks. The ramped-up security inches American train travel a little closer to the frustrating security maze of American airports, muting one of rail's advantages for consumers. But with the present air of menace, one can hardly blame Amtrak for heightening scrutiny.
Looking around at the fast-food joints and relatively murky environs of New York's major long-distance rail station - Grand Central Station handles significant commuter traffic - I grew nostalgic for something that hasn't happened yet, and may not happen: The conversion of the magnificent post office right nearby into the 'new' Penn Station, as proposed years ago by the late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynahan. Even this wouldn't entirely make up for the destruction, in the early 1960s, of the original Penn Station, which rivaled Grand Central in grandeur. But it would bolster America's struggling rail system - once arguably the finest in the world.
Showing posts with label Amtrak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amtrak. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Help Wanted: Infrastructure Investment
This is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on traveling in China back in 2007, when he took the 250-miles-per-hour magnetic levitation (Maglev) train from Shanghai Pudong International Airport into the city:
"I had a full cup of coffee and I watched the coffee,'' the mayor said, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal. "It didn't vibrate once. It was really quite amazing. And other countries are trying to do the same thing, create other modes of transportation that are much more effcient, much more rapid and answer the needs in a global world.''
Every American who has traveled the world in the last decade or so has had a similar experience - often many of them. I, too, have marveled at the Maglev train on my visits to Shanghai, and been deeply impressed by new roads I've used in Malaysia, fast trains in Japan and France, new airport terminals in Barcelona, Beijing, Singapore, Madrid, Tokyo and Cairo, and new airports -not new terminals, new airports - in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and beyond. My home country, the United States - the nation that built the Panama Canal, the transcontinental railroad, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, a continent-spanning interstate highway system and more - has fallen well off the pace in creating and even just maintaining travel infrastructure.
To their credit, U.S. political leaders like Bloomberg and President Barack Obama recognize this and are trying to do something about it. Three hundred million Americans and millions of international visitors will benefit in tangible ways if their vision is realized. Just how soon - or even if - that happens remains to be seen, thanks to intransient and in some cases narrow-minded political opponents who are using federal and state deficits as reasons for doing nothing.
In last month's State of the Union speech, Obama made a case for building and upgrading travel infrastructure as an investment in the future:
"Our infrastructure used to be the best,'' Obama observed, "but our lead has slipped. South Korean homes now have greater Internet access than we do. Countries in Europe and Russia invest more in their roads and railways than we do. China is building faster trains and newer airports. Meanwhile, when our own engineers graded our nation's infrastructure, they gave us a D.
"Over the last two years, we have begun rebuilding for the 21st century, a project that meant thousands of good jobs for the hard-hit construction industry. Tonight, I'm proposing that we redouble those efforts.
"We will put more Americans to work repairing crumbling roads and bridges. We will make sure this is fully paid for, attract private investment and pick projects based on what's best for the economy, not politicians.
"Within 25 years, our goal is to give 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail, which would allow you to go places in half the time it takes to travel by car. For some trips, it will be faster than flying ... As we speak, routes in California and the Midwest are already underway.''
Or are they? Politicians can't stop being politicians. Republican Party deficit hawks - notably silent when fellow Republicans George W. Bush and the unaccountably sainted Ronald Reagan were running up record-high deficits themselves - say the country can't afford it. Some travel-industry analysts and political pundits point out that Republican congressional districts - which tend to be rural and lightly populated - average just one-11th the population density of urban Democratic Party-held districts, thus accounting for hostility to mass transit.
Some of this hostility verges on the irrational, such as statements by Florida's Republican governor, Rick Scott, that he would return $2.4 billion in promised federal subsidies for high-speed rail to his state since he considers high-speed rail a boondoggle. Other conservative leaders, notably Rep. John L. Mica, also a Florida Republican, has said he isn't against high-speed rail but would prefer that the private sector develop it, as he thinks that would be more cost-effective than having government do it. He could be right, who knows? Simply dismissing the idea of building high-speed rail won't answer the question.
Oh, and did I mention Amtrak, the U.S.'s perennially beseiged federally subsidized passenger rail system, will be stripped of public funds if political opponents have their way? The notion that efficient public transport more than pays for itself in reducing transport times, pollution from motor vehicles and improving shipping times for cargo has simply been discounted.
It shouldn't be. Obama and Bloomberg are to be commended for thinking big and thinking smart. Travelers the world over, not just in the U.S., have got to hope that the roadblocks in their way are pushed aside by clear-thinking people of all political colorations.
"I had a full cup of coffee and I watched the coffee,'' the mayor said, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal. "It didn't vibrate once. It was really quite amazing. And other countries are trying to do the same thing, create other modes of transportation that are much more effcient, much more rapid and answer the needs in a global world.''
Every American who has traveled the world in the last decade or so has had a similar experience - often many of them. I, too, have marveled at the Maglev train on my visits to Shanghai, and been deeply impressed by new roads I've used in Malaysia, fast trains in Japan and France, new airport terminals in Barcelona, Beijing, Singapore, Madrid, Tokyo and Cairo, and new airports -not new terminals, new airports - in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and beyond. My home country, the United States - the nation that built the Panama Canal, the transcontinental railroad, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, a continent-spanning interstate highway system and more - has fallen well off the pace in creating and even just maintaining travel infrastructure.
To their credit, U.S. political leaders like Bloomberg and President Barack Obama recognize this and are trying to do something about it. Three hundred million Americans and millions of international visitors will benefit in tangible ways if their vision is realized. Just how soon - or even if - that happens remains to be seen, thanks to intransient and in some cases narrow-minded political opponents who are using federal and state deficits as reasons for doing nothing.
In last month's State of the Union speech, Obama made a case for building and upgrading travel infrastructure as an investment in the future:
"Our infrastructure used to be the best,'' Obama observed, "but our lead has slipped. South Korean homes now have greater Internet access than we do. Countries in Europe and Russia invest more in their roads and railways than we do. China is building faster trains and newer airports. Meanwhile, when our own engineers graded our nation's infrastructure, they gave us a D.
"Over the last two years, we have begun rebuilding for the 21st century, a project that meant thousands of good jobs for the hard-hit construction industry. Tonight, I'm proposing that we redouble those efforts.
"We will put more Americans to work repairing crumbling roads and bridges. We will make sure this is fully paid for, attract private investment and pick projects based on what's best for the economy, not politicians.
"Within 25 years, our goal is to give 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail, which would allow you to go places in half the time it takes to travel by car. For some trips, it will be faster than flying ... As we speak, routes in California and the Midwest are already underway.''
Or are they? Politicians can't stop being politicians. Republican Party deficit hawks - notably silent when fellow Republicans George W. Bush and the unaccountably sainted Ronald Reagan were running up record-high deficits themselves - say the country can't afford it. Some travel-industry analysts and political pundits point out that Republican congressional districts - which tend to be rural and lightly populated - average just one-11th the population density of urban Democratic Party-held districts, thus accounting for hostility to mass transit.
Some of this hostility verges on the irrational, such as statements by Florida's Republican governor, Rick Scott, that he would return $2.4 billion in promised federal subsidies for high-speed rail to his state since he considers high-speed rail a boondoggle. Other conservative leaders, notably Rep. John L. Mica, also a Florida Republican, has said he isn't against high-speed rail but would prefer that the private sector develop it, as he thinks that would be more cost-effective than having government do it. He could be right, who knows? Simply dismissing the idea of building high-speed rail won't answer the question.
Oh, and did I mention Amtrak, the U.S.'s perennially beseiged federally subsidized passenger rail system, will be stripped of public funds if political opponents have their way? The notion that efficient public transport more than pays for itself in reducing transport times, pollution from motor vehicles and improving shipping times for cargo has simply been discounted.
It shouldn't be. Obama and Bloomberg are to be commended for thinking big and thinking smart. Travelers the world over, not just in the U.S., have got to hope that the roadblocks in their way are pushed aside by clear-thinking people of all political colorations.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Prime Summer Deals: A Sampler
In Wednesday's post, I reported that dire economic conditions generally - and in the travel-biz specifically - are prompting travel providers to cut prices and offer deals. Proof? Read on, and you'll see a sampler of deals; all were announced or kicked-in just this week. As always, if you book, carry out due diligence: check the fine print and be sure a deal works for you:
* Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's classy major airline, is offering triple miles in either its own Asia Miles program or in oneworld alliance partner American Airlines' AAdvantage program to passengers who fly across the Pacific in first or business class. Starting June 15, travelers flying on Cathay from Los Angeles, New York JFK or San Francisco to Hong Kong can earn triple miles, provided their trips originate in the United States and they have completed round-trip travel by Aug. 15. (www.cathaypacific.com/us).
* I indicated in Monday's post (May 18) that post-flu Mexico would be on sale. The sale is beginning. RIU Hotels & Resorts, which operates swank resorts on Mexico's Pacific and Caribbean coasts, is offering rates starting under $100 per person (not per room) for the month of June. Rates begin at $73 per person at the company's newest property, Riu Emerald Bay, which opens May 29 in Mazatlan, and, at 40 percent off, are not much higher elsewhere. (http://www.riu.com/ or tel. 888.RIU.4990).
* Amtrak is cutting fares 25 percent on some trains in the Eastern U.S. this summer. The fare cuts start Tuesday, June 2 and run through Sept. 3. Two weeks advance reservation is required. (http://www.amtrak.com/).
* Marrriott International Inc. is offering members of its Marriott Rewards program double points through June 26, with two nights worth of credits for every one-night stay. (www.marriottrewards.com/doublenights). Marriott is also slating 20 percent discounts for staying Thursdays through Sundays at any of 2,500 properties it runs around the world. That deal began Thursday and runs through Sept. 7. (www.marriott.com/globalratebreak or tel. 1.877.MARRIOTT).
* The Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. is offering lodging and breakfast starting at $229 per night for families of two adults and two children. The package includes a copy of "City Walks for Kids,'' a guide to more than 100 free things to do in the capital city. Available through Dec. 31. (www.fairmont.com/washington or tel. 1.877.570.5566).
Right now, the cascade of travel deals that began during the drear days of winter and rolled on through spring is continuing into the summer. No doubt there's more to come.
In Wednesday's post, I reported that dire economic conditions generally - and in the travel-biz specifically - are prompting travel providers to cut prices and offer deals. Proof? Read on, and you'll see a sampler of deals; all were announced or kicked-in just this week. As always, if you book, carry out due diligence: check the fine print and be sure a deal works for you:
* Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's classy major airline, is offering triple miles in either its own Asia Miles program or in oneworld alliance partner American Airlines' AAdvantage program to passengers who fly across the Pacific in first or business class. Starting June 15, travelers flying on Cathay from Los Angeles, New York JFK or San Francisco to Hong Kong can earn triple miles, provided their trips originate in the United States and they have completed round-trip travel by Aug. 15. (www.cathaypacific.com/us).
* I indicated in Monday's post (May 18) that post-flu Mexico would be on sale. The sale is beginning. RIU Hotels & Resorts, which operates swank resorts on Mexico's Pacific and Caribbean coasts, is offering rates starting under $100 per person (not per room) for the month of June. Rates begin at $73 per person at the company's newest property, Riu Emerald Bay, which opens May 29 in Mazatlan, and, at 40 percent off, are not much higher elsewhere. (http://www.riu.com/ or tel. 888.RIU.4990).
* Amtrak is cutting fares 25 percent on some trains in the Eastern U.S. this summer. The fare cuts start Tuesday, June 2 and run through Sept. 3. Two weeks advance reservation is required. (http://www.amtrak.com/).
* Marrriott International Inc. is offering members of its Marriott Rewards program double points through June 26, with two nights worth of credits for every one-night stay. (www.marriottrewards.com/doublenights). Marriott is also slating 20 percent discounts for staying Thursdays through Sundays at any of 2,500 properties it runs around the world. That deal began Thursday and runs through Sept. 7. (www.marriott.com/globalratebreak or tel. 1.877.MARRIOTT).
* The Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. is offering lodging and breakfast starting at $229 per night for families of two adults and two children. The package includes a copy of "City Walks for Kids,'' a guide to more than 100 free things to do in the capital city. Available through Dec. 31. (www.fairmont.com/washington or tel. 1.877.570.5566).
Right now, the cascade of travel deals that began during the drear days of winter and rolled on through spring is continuing into the summer. No doubt there's more to come.
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