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TxDOT Tyler District DOTcast -- Texas Department of Transportation|Texas Eagle Soaring: Improving Passenger Rail Service In East Texas Episode
In 1970, President Richard Nixon authorized the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, which became known as AMTRAK, to begin managing the nation's passenger rail system on the rails owned by the nation's various railroad companies. Once plagued by chronic underfunding and poor on-time performance, AMTRAK has seen a resurgence in the past year thanks to legislation signed by both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, the latter including a special dispensation for AMTRAK in the recent stimulus bill. Created in 2003 to help identify opportunities for expansion of the passenger rail system in East Texas, the East Texas Corridor Council has been studying the expansion of AMTRAK's Texas Eagle line, running east-to-west between Fort Worth and Marshall, and following US 59 between Marshall and Texarkana. For more on the East Texas Corridor Council's role in improving passenger rail in East Texas, I spoke with its chairman, Tim Vaughn.
[ Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0500 ]
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