On Wednesday evening, the House of Representatives voted on various amendments to the Transportation Appropriations bill, including one from Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) to defund Amtrak. Thankfully, the amendment failed with 128 voting in favor versus 293 voting against. This vote serves as a litmus test to who is really on our side. Voting to defund
The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) launched a new campaign – Towns Without Trains – in an effort to organize against President Trump’s plans to eliminate Amtrak’s long-distance service. On the weekend of June 23rd, the campaign aims to spur local rallies all across the country to tell Congress to keep and support Amtrak’s long-distance service. Over 220
President Trump released his budget proposal for FY18, and it’s devastating for TCU members. Some highlights include: Eliminates Amtrak Long-Distance service – Trump’s budget cuts Amtrak’s overall funding in half, from $1.404 billion annually to $774 million. Trump’s budget states that “long distance trains do not serve a vital transportation purpose, and are a
Last week (May 8-10), TCU/IAM leaders from across the country came to Washington, DC, to attend the 2017 Machinists Legislative Conference. Attendees heard from various congressional speakers including Senators Angus King (I – ME), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR). They also heard from Congressmen Anthony Brown and Jamie Raskin
On Sunday, Ed Wytkind, the President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, wrote a letter-to-the-editor of the Wall Street Journal in response to their previous editorial that largely bashed Amtrak. The article is behind a paywall so we’ve pasted the text of the letter below. Give Amtrak the Resources It Needs to Be Great We need
On February 11th, Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote to Amtrak Board Chairman Anthony Coscia urging him to find the absolute best candidate to replace outgoing Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman: …With the announcement of Boardman’s retirement, it is important that the Board of Directors makes certain that his successor possesses a deep
The TCU Legislative Department hopes everyone had a fun and safe holiday season and wishes you the best in this New Year! And to ring in 2016, we wanted to provide a recap of the happenings in DC last month. This past December there was much to celebrate for TCU members as Santa arrived a
In the aftermath of recent incidents on our nation’s railways – including the deadly derailment of the Amtrak Northeast Regional outside Philadelphia – lawmakers and the general public have been pushing for increased safety. Front-and-center in this debate has been the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) systems to our nation’s railroads. In 2008, Congress
