Rollei 35
Kodak XX
Well shit.
I don't usually post bad news (because many here already know it) and try to concentrate on positive things that we can do to effect change.
But this sucks and I want to scream into the void.
The Amtrak (America's only "national" passenger rail service - there are smaller regional rail services, some that even cross a couple of states, but Amtrak is the only one that really goes all across the nation) CEO was forced to resign.
The US has shitty rail service as it is, and Amtrak is often hampered by state governments that don't want passenger rail (they're paid off by car companies, airplane companies, even bus companies, and even even freight RAIL companies).
But this just means that passenger rail is going to suck even more in the US and the US regime installs a loyalist to the Amtrak CEO position.
Texas can say goodbye to their high-speed rail line from Dallas to Houston:
(edit: And to be clear this isn't the worst of any of this by a long shot. It just hit me sideways today in the midst of everything else. Anyhoo... back to it)
#transit #rail #trains #passengerTrains #amtrak
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-passenger-railroad-amtrak-ceo-abruptly-steps-down-2025-03-19/
#Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner is stepping down after #DOGE leader #ElonMusk called for the #transit service to be #privatized.
Amtrak, also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, is the national passenger #rail service for the #US. It is nationally chartered, meaning the federal government is the majority stockholder. It also means Amtrak board members are nominated by the president & confirmed by the Senate.
Similarly designed to break the American mind: competitively priced longish-distance train tickets.
Rode the entirety of the Houston Metrorail streetcar system this afternoon. And then of course had to take pictures at the iconic tram fountain.
#transit
New on the blog today – some hot takes on Montreal's Eastern Tramway proposal: https://heliomass.com/posts/2504-montreals-eastern-tramway-proposal/
Alabama #GOP couldn’t even spare $5 (that’s 42¢ a month!) to get better public transit for their state
For no reason, a pair of JR East Yamanote Line E235s at Ueno Station, last July. The Yamanote is Tokyo's main circle line, and one of the busiest passenger lines in the world, with roughly a million passengers per day. Like the rest of the JR East conventional network, it's 1067 mm (3'6") narrow gauge.
#trains #transit #tokyo
INBOX: according to the newly released APTA Q4 2024 Ridership Report obtained by @thexylom, marta is the only U.S. heavy rail system to see its ridership decline compared to Q4 2023, despite reducing weekend service cuts, boosting weekday frequency, and unveiling new railcars.
https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-Q4-Ridership-APTA.pdf
In honor of this dream, I have drawn a map of the pink bus and trolley routes I devised. Enjoy.
I really do think the city needs a frequent, free, dependable public transit system, to be clear. This is what sleeping-me came up with. The stuff of dreams, LOL. #SomervilleMA #SomerPoli #bus #trolley #transit
Okay, friends who are locals, buckle up because I think I had a corker of an idea while asleep last night... It was A TROLLEY DREAM. For the city. It was slightly bananas. But also great.
I dreamt that I was on the forefront of an effort to establish a new trolley route (FREE) to go around the city of Somerville. More than that, it was 4 routes -- 1 that was a whole circuit of the outer edge of the city, and 3 smaller circuits within the city.
I had a terrible #adventure in DT #losangeles going home.
A couple very rough people sat in front of me blasting music on a subway. Annoying yes, but I'm chill.
One guy puts on a balaclava like a robbery.
Another drugged up guy came and they smoked meth in front of me. I got off.
I took a crowded bus, and some big guy stared at me a ton, sat down and started playing with a huge knife near me, another two started shouting, and I got off, and walked a mile home.
“La semaine difficile du REM se poursuit” https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2142568/reseau-express-metropolitain-panne-rem-navette
If one good thing comes out of this, it must be the abandonment of plans to revamp the bus network to prevent competition with the REM.
Reliability will stabilise over time, but forcing users onto one transit mode and removing alternatives is terrible transit planning. It removes choice and (as we’re seeing this week) redundancy and generates ill will.
We don’t want to see people back in their cars.
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A second take on #52frames #motionblur . I ended up submitting this one - it has a sense of energy and motion that my cat didn't convey :-) #photography #nikon #d200 #motionblurphotography #transit #publictransport
Transit photo of the day: The mad network of lifts at Tottenham Court Road station.
I’m so tempted to make a game out of this…
Transit photo of the day: Retired MR-90s waiting for scrap (or preservation?) at Pointe-Saint-Charles in Montreal following the closure of the Deux-Montagnes line.
These were weird trains, especially as EMUs are rare in Canada and the doors handle different platform heights.
