Maybe Amtrak could put start a train on the NWP? Perhaps a galloping goose derivitive with highway tires for the 9 months of the year the line is undergoing storm rehabilitation?

Hah!

Kidding aside, this is well overdue. Amtrak really has a major issue with capacity, and additional funding for more cars is long overdue. Last summer, we were out in southern CA and rode San Diegan service to/from San Diego. Wonderful trip, the cars were clean, but very worn. And packed too, lots of riders.

My only concern is how much this will do to expand Amtrak vs. just fix what's there. There seems to be a number of bad order superliners at Beech Grove IN, but many of them are wreck damaged and have sat for years. Once the effort is made to fix what is running now but needs refurb, can many / any of these lot relics be brought back to life economically?

Conversely, what's the story with Bombardier? (did I misspell that name? sorry!). They did all the Superliner II cars, assume they still have the tooling, but I recall that they closed the plant in NY where the cars were built. Think they'd get the contract for more long haul cars, or would Amtrak design something new for long haul purposes?

Not real sure what options would be out there for short haul. There's the Horizon cars design, but IMHO, they're butt ugly. The amfleet design is a bit dated. But there's probably some unfilled demand at least for sleepers in single level equipment, there aren't all that many new cars out there.

Any thoughts? It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, particularly to see if in later budget efforts if Amtrak will get bipartisan support. (then again, the recovery package passed without a single Republican vote). If Republicans are unwilling to support Amtrak services, it'll be interesting to see if subsequent funding focuses new services / equipment in states where the congressional delegations are supporting Amtrak and/or the new administrations agenda as a form of payback.