author: James McCommons
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2010/01/28
date added: 2010/02/03
shelves: environmentalism, history, non-fiction, politics, technology, urban-studies
review:
Excellent overview of the state of passenger rail in the US. Illuminated lots of things about how the system works: the relationship between Amtrak & the freight companies, the role of state departments of transportation, how the heck Amtrak even came to be. Yes, we have a pathetic system (if you can call it that), but there are some signs of hope.
Also, and I did not know this: in most cases ownership and use rights of Rail-to-Trail trails remains with the freight railroads that once used them, or to the companies that bought them up. In theory, a company could simply decide to rebuild and start running trains in those places without even needing permits or hearings! Crazy, if unlikely to happen.