#passenger-rail

#passenger-rail

When Amtrak started running the Mardi Gras Service started running between New Orleans and Mobile in August, it restored passenger rail to the Gulf Coast for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. To make that happen, though, required a decade-long effort - and the creation of a new national rail program that has had ripple effects acrossAmerica.

But in a comprehensive review of four years of spending since the law went into effect, the Urban Institute has found that historic federal investment in shared modes was eclipsed by an increase in state and local spending on highway projects, as well as a decrease in transit funding at the community level. On balance, total funding for transit across all levels of government actually flatlined - and rail projects experienced a net decline in spending.

Brightline trains have killed an astounding 182 people since beginning service in 2018, averaging one death every 13 days on the tracks.