I look at Europe with their trains and I am so envious

Trump will destroy what little we do have. Sticking a knife in the back of his rural voters again!

Enjoy Trump voters?!

The service and reliability has predictably gone downhill with it, although they are light years ahead of the States. Düsseldorf to Frankfurt, which used to take almost three hours, now takes 85 minutes. Same, more or less for Brussels-Paris. Even Köln-Paris, which used to take at least six hours, can now be done in 3:15.

The privatizing of the German train system has led to several private trains, some of which provide important regional service the national network does not serve (anymore). On the whole, it still is better than anything we have in the USA, though the lack of funds they invest in maintenance shows, and leads to maddening delays.

Still a lot of government money is going into the train system. The system is now run by actual companies instead of government agencies, but that's about it. The most important company Deutsche Bahn is still owned 100% by the Federal Republic (which is a good thing).

For regional train traffic, the Bundesländer (states) call for tenders and the company offering the best solution for a given train connection is allowed to run that connection for xx years. I think there are various models for this, sometimes the winning train company gets to keep all the ticket money plus some money from the state, and sometimes all the ticket money goes to the state, while the state pays for the train service in full. I'm not quite sure about that. In any case, there are quite a few independent companies for this kind of train service. In most cases I think the results are quite good.

Also, most rails are owned by Deutsche Bahn. The government decides on which new rails should be built and I think new rails are paid for 100% through tax payer money. The rails are then given to Deutsche Bahn. Maintenance is supposed to be paid for by the Deutsche Bahn company without using government funds.

Fast train traffic (Intercity and Intercity Express trains) is not financed through the government, and is mostly run by Deutsche Bahn. So they must set ticket prices high enough to pay for trains, electricity, staff, rail/station usage fees, etc. There's an issue because the same company owns the rail network and at the same time operates trains on the network, competing against other companies.

I think train systems can only work okay-ish if funded through the government. Luckily, the German government seems to be okay with that. While we love to complain about Deutsche Bahn, it's actually pretty good IMHO. I love it.

Bur the DB has big maintenance delays, is subject to pressure from small groups like the GDL, and aside from "wir bitten um Ihr Verständnis," doesn't offer much in either consolation or compensation when their trains break down. Of course,often it's in the middle of the winter, and they leave you stranded on a Bahnsteig in Düren, promising some other train is coming in 5 minutes to take you to Brussels when in fact they know full well that it won't be there for at least half an hour. The Deutsche Bahn COULD be wonderful. It's good as a rule, but could be much better.

I look at Europe with their trains, buses, health care models, social safety net programs, and work place benefits and I am so envious.

We cant have anything good in this country for the common citizen.

Ayn Rand capitalism/GOP dooms us all.

The year before we took the train from Venice to Zurich. We both commented on how comfortable the train was and how we can't have nice things in America anymore.

I am getting so angry that the tutus brainwashed people voted fir rethugs and chump. They are destroying our country.

Was watching North by Northwest. The train was NICE. And you walked on at Grand Central station. So cool.

This is awful.

hopefully, the ads in 2018 and 2020 will write themselves...

They will blame any pain and suffering on Democratic Party.. all the while Repukes go all out to destroy government services

So while they will have my sympathy .. I think they will own a certain amount of responsibility for their collective fate.

I feel real pain for Democratic voters in the area who are really getting pummeled.

The most recent trip was for a scholarship interview the week before spring break and the 800 mile round trip was around $80.
The following week, he took the train home for spring break as well. By car, each of these round trips would have taken around 12 hours.

What R's are missing is they think Amtrak cuts happen in a vacuum and they don't realize how much commerce is facilitated by Amtrak.
Amtrak saves folks lots of time, money and lowers fuel consumption.
Not that any of that matters to these clowns.

I take it a few times a year from NYC to the seasonal ferry to Bernieland. $80 each way, one train a day, and 300ish miles. The other crazy thing is that it sells out all seats frequently. The neat thing is that I walk off the train and onto the ferry.

On the second-to-last trip, we were not sure he'd be getting the scholarship interview, but we bought the ticket in way in advance to avoid it selling out.
Even if we had to burn the ticket, it would have been a good investment vs. the prospect of a 12-hour round trip in the car.
Fortunately, he got the interview AND the scholarship!

They hate anything that helps people or the environment.

Amtrak has serious issues but still is critical for many folks. And the issues could be greatly eased if CONgress ever wanted to do so.

It's best left to the "filthy Europeans", in their eyes.

to private companies. It is the less travelled routes that the high volume Amtrak routes now support that will die because the private owners will want to maximize profit.

A bit OT, but might be of interest to some.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/10/dutch-trains-100-percent-wind-powered-ns

It won't be just Trump... Also our republican controlled Congress.

“It’s ironic that President Trump’s first budget proposal undermines the very communities whose economic hardship ... "

All the people that voted for him will now lose even more because his idiocy. Stopping service to 220 places will destroy their economies, who will pay for his insane "budget", certainly not the 1%.

Amtrak could be a viable operation if it was given the attention it deserves. Once again the people that voted for him isn't listen to one damn word he puked out, except the taunting of reporters and non-RWNJ racists.

Our gopers are quickly turning us into a third world country while their 1 percenter owners are taking advantage of tax cuts, reduced oversight, and low wages.

It's largely union labor too so he gets 2 for 1 revenge.

The Amtrak routes that run between big cities on the eastcoast are profitable. Commuter rail around big cities is profitable due to ridership. The places that will suffer are small rural cities and towns that Amtrak now run service through.

I hate the republicans

I love Amtrak! I doubt that the Northeast Corridor will be heavily affected, but still, it's just a shitty thing to do. Now that means more people on the roads - more traffic, more pollution, more demand for oil. I really hate these bastards.

We'll have a nifty wall!

The insanity never stops.

The areas that will get pounded are eastcoast areas south of Northern Virginia. Areas between San Francisco and LA will suffer, but the cities themselves won't. The areas that will be hurt most are smaller cities that lay between big cities and small regional airports and train depots.

There's no intelligent transportation down here.

Cutting Amtrak is 100% bullshit!

These are the people who live in rural, "flyover country" areas not served much by any kind of mass transit at all.

In short, Trump will be hurting them more than anyone else. And they will cheer him on, thinking it's great.

even though we're only 60 miles from the Why? House. No other mass transit but the train and a risky-dink bus line.

You are probably a picture post card representative of the 200 communities that are wondering what they will be doing to get in and out of there other than hitching a ride on the trucks that bring in refills for the local 7-11s and gas stations.

I've been dreaming of a long train trip down to NO and that bastard is going to take it away?