Creation of Amtrak tops 'biggest passenger rail event' list

摘要

In an informal online poll, we asked Progres-siveRailroading.com visitors: "What's the biggest passenger-rail industry event of the past 50 years, and why?" Conducted from March 17 to April 7, the survey netted 157 responses. And while would-be responders were welcome to list more than one milestone, the overwhelming majority of those who answered the passenger-rail question cited the creation of Amtrak as the most significant of the past five decades. Not just the fact that Amtrak was established, but what its creation meant. The divesture of passenger service by freight railroads and underfunding of Amtrak "defined the transportation commitment of this country," one respondent said. "It was an acknowledgement of defeat to the automobile and airplanes that had major consequences."