Amtrak

Amtrak Loss Comes To $32 Per Passenger: Study

AP | KEVIN FREKING | Posted 10.27.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON — U.S. taxpayers spent about $32 subsidizing the cost of the typical Amtrak passenger in 2008, about four times the rail operator's e...

Train Derails On South Side, Fuel Spills Into Chicago River

Fox Chicago | Posted 10.22.2009 | Chicago


Emergency crews are responding to a hazardous materials situation Thursday morning after a train derailed in the South Loop, sending fuel into the Chi...

Amtrak Ridership Shrinks, But It's Still Second-Best Year For Railroad

AP | JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer | Posted 10.13.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON (AP)-- Amtrak said Monday its ridership dropped by more than a million passengers in the past year, still the second-highest year in the ra...

Only in the Bizarro World

B. Jeffrey Madoff | Posted 10.05.2009 | Politics


B. Jeffrey Madoff

Households with guns are 11 times more likely to use those guns to commit suicide than for self defense. But to be fair, we don't just kill ourselves, we kill others, a lot.

Tom Friedman's Take On "Wimps" and "The Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys"

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 09.22.2009 | Business


Raymond J. Learsy

How are we going to compete in years to come as we go head-to-head with societies that are far better equipped to deal with the exigencies of the future?

Senate Votes To Allow Guns On Amtrak

AP | ANDREW TAYLOR | Posted 09.16.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Wednesday to permit passengers on the Amtrak passenger railroad to transport handguns in their checked baggage. T...

Senate Amtrak Gun Law: U.S. Senate Approves Firearms On Trains

AP | ANDREW TAYLOR | Posted 09.16.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Wednesday to permit passengers on the Amtrak passenger railroad to transport handguns in their checked baggage. T...

Three Die After Amtrak Train Hits Vehicle Near Ottawa Illinois

AP | Posted 08.13.2009 | Chicago


OTTAWA, Ill. — Three people are dead after their vehicle was struck by an Amtrak train in Illinois. Authorities say five people were in the veh...

Train Bound For Chicago Hits Car Near Detroit, All 5 People In Car Die

AP | DAVID RUNK | Posted 08.10.2009 | Chicago


CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — An Amtrak passenger train carrying about 170 people struck a car that had skirted a gate at a road crossing near Detroi...

Amtrak Cutting Some Summer Fares By 25 Percent

AP | Posted 06.20.2009 | Green


WASHINGTON — Amtrak is cutting fares by 25 percent on some Eastern trains this summer as the national passenger railroad looks to boost demand d...

High-Speed Rail: Agreement Reached On Chicago-St. Louis Train Corridor

AP | Posted 06.08.2009 | Chicago


ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Union Pacific Railroad and the state of Illinois announced an agreement Friday to assess what must be done to operate both freight a...

National Train Day: Former Pullman Porters Reflect On Rail Heritage

usatoday.com | Posted 06.08.2009 | Green


As U.S. rail buffs anticipate the expansion of high-speed rail under President Obama's stimulus plan, four railroad veterans will board a Philadelphia...

Amtrak To Get $80 Million From Stimulus For Illinois Projects

Associated Press | Posted 04.25.2009 | Chicago


Amtrak in Illinois will receive $80 million in federal stimulus money to modernize train repair centers as well as to improve security and wheelchair ...

High-Speed Rail To The Rescue: Durbin, Quinn Make Stimulus Funds Pitch For Train Project

Associated Press | Posted 04.09.2009 | Chicago


CHICAGO - Illinois leaders want stimulus money to develop high-speed train travel between Chicago and St. Louis. Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Du...

A New Movement

Amy Ephron | Posted 03.08.2009 | Politics


Amy Ephron

There is a movement to strip billions of dollars from the stimulus bill led by Ben Nelson of Omaha (whose Democratic status is debatable) and Susan Collins (Republican) of Maine.

Acela Seeks To Lure Passengers From Airlines

New York Times | Stuart Elliot | Posted 03.05.2009 | Business

Read More: Acela, Amtrak, Business News

Amtrak has attracted some famous customers in the last couple of weeks. First, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, on their way to Washington to be inaugurate...

Amtrak Derailment Causes Rush Hour Problems For Metra Lines

Chicago Sun-Times | Mary Wisniewski | Posted 02.14.2009 | Chicago


An Amtrak train derailment just south of Union Station is blocking all Metra trains going in or out on the Burlington Northern, Southwest and Heritage...

Stranger On A Snowy Train

Kim Morgan | Posted 01.24.2009 | Entertainment


Kim Morgan

I'm heading north for the holidays, and I loathe flying, so I'm on the train. Traveling by train got me thinking (again) of some of my favorite train movies.

Amtrak Strands Holiday Travelers For Nearly 24 Hours

AP | MICHAEL TARM | Posted 04.17.2009 | Chicago


CHICAGO — On one of the biggest travel days of the year, hundreds of Amtrak passengers bound for holiday destinations hunkered down in waiting r...

Fix the Roads to Fix the Economy

James P. Hoffa | Posted 01.12.2009 | Politics


James P. Hoffa

President-elect Barack Obama wants to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild this country's neglected infrastructure. He's right. It's really a no-brainer.

IDOT Seeks Increased Amtrak Funding

ABC 7 | Posted 12.14.2008 | Chicago


Illinois transportation officials are considering buying more Amtrak passenger cars for popular routes in southern parts of the state. Illinois Depar...

Train Travel Increasing: Chicago May Be Hub Of Rail Boom

AP | Joan Lowy | Posted 04.17.2009 | Chicago


WASHINGTON - After half a century as more of a curiosity than a convenience, passenger trains are getting back on track in some parts of the country. ...

Amtrak Ridership Surges

Chicago Tribune | Jon Hilkevitch | Posted 11.13.2008 | Chicago


Amtrak ridership topped 1 million passengers in the past year for the first time in at least three decades on routes between Chicago and Downstate cit...

Amtrak Gets Federal Money For Chicago Routes

Chicago Tribune | Jon Hilkevitch | Posted 10.31.2008 | Chicago


Amtrak trains will be able to travel as fast as 110 m.p.h. within about a year on portions of routes from Chicago to St. Louis and Chicago to Milwauke...

Vetting Joe Biden: My Conversation With His Classmate

Cristina Chang | Posted 10.11.2008 | Home


Cristina Chang

When Joe was a teenager his friends laughed at his stated ambition to be president, but they knew he was determined to make a career of helping people.