all reporters care about is wowing there viewers by making them think "wow, it is unsafe",, that, and there big fat check,,
this cant be good for Amtrak

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JONATHON D. ORTIZ

GOOD OR BAD?

quote:

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Originally posted by JONATHON:
The news a minute ago just said that its unsafe to travel by Rail!

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What news report was that?

This might not be the exact answer from the previous poster, but from the UTU website and I was present for this event (see below after my signature).

Comments?

---"Ken" Ruben---

Senator says Southland rails vulnerable
LOS ANGELES -- Greater rail security is needed in Los Angeles County to avoid a terrorist disaster like the one in Madrid that took about 200 lives March 11, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), said at Union Station April 14.
"We are vulnerable here, just as we are in rail systems throughout this state and throughout this country," said Boxer, who is up for re-election against Republican Bill Jones and is spearheading rail safety legislation.

"And we need to do more," she said, "and we need to do it quickly, and we have been warned."

Boxer met with local rail, Amtrak and transit officials to learn more about measures being taken to improve security in Los Angeles County and Southern California.

Boxer's "Railroad and Mass Transportation Public Protection Program Act" (SB 2276) was introduced April 1.

It would authorize $500 million a year for five years for increased police, K-9 units and surveillance equipment on rail systems.

A third of the money would go to Amtrak -- the federally subsidized train system -- and be distributed based on passenger ridership. Two-thirds of the funding would be used for freight rail and local mass transit systems.

Boxer also spoke in support of the "Rail Transportation Security Act of 2004 (SB 2273)," which was reported out of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, which she is on, April 8.

The bill authorizes $63.5 million in grants for FY 2005 for system-wide Amtrak upgrades. Some $350 million in grants would go to Amtrak, freight railroads and hazardous materials shippers for freight and passenger rail security.

The bill authorizes $5 million for the U.S Department of Homeland Security to work with the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct an assessment of rail transportation security risks and make recommendations for improving security.

The General Accounting Office would be instructed to compare foreign and U.S. rail security programs.

And $5 million would go toward a pilot program that would be used to randomly screen passengers and baggage at five stations Amtrak serves.

Boxer said SB 2273 could come up for a vote in the full Senate any day now.

Fellow Democrat and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who chairs the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, escorted Boxer to Union Station.

"In the aftermath of the disaster in Madrid -- that tragic terrorist act in Madrid -- any metropolitan transit authority in the United States has to have its head examined if it doesn't move quickly to do what needs to be done to secure its riders," he said.

He said Boxer is "focused like a laser beam on our needs here in California, in Los Angeles and across the country."

(The preceding story was posted on the website of NBC4 TV News at http://www.nbc4.tv/index.html on April 14, 2004.)

April 15, 2004

Boxer has achieved one of the mian objectives in maintaining herself in people's memories, which is always assumed to be good for the time when people enter the voting booth, and that is . . . !!free TV face time!!

There was one that said years ago (before TV and radio) "I don't care what you say about me as long as you spell my name right."

After you see / hear a politician, the real question is, what do they do about it?

"Pilot programs" can more accurately be defined as one or the other: 1. Looking like you are doing something about a situation withour making a true commitment. or 2. Doing something for some one or some special interest in the home turf in such a way that it does not have to be done anywhere else.

And then, of course. if no disaster happens the politician can take credit for the success. If a disaster does happen, it will be because their recommendations were not thoroughly implemented.

Our best defense is to be vigilant and report unusual activity to authorities and hope that the authorities can catch them before they attack.

We can either obsess about it and sit at home and collect ulcers, high blood pressure, etc. from worry, or we can take reasonable safety precautions and get on with it.

As said before, the most dangerous part of a train trip is the drive to the station. There have been about 100 people killed in all Amtrak accidents in 33 years, and over 40 of those was in one accident when an incompetent barge pilot hit a bridge and knocked it out of line. Yet, about 40,000 people a year are killed in road accidents, not counting the idiots that drive into trains. A auto crash is only local news.

So, relax.

New Zealanders usually don't like to complain. If somethings wrong we like to fix it ourselves if we can or just "grin and bear it"