Gary Anderson of Marshfield, Wisconsin writes:
“I attended the Wisconsin ARP meeting [October 31] at which Mr. Donavan Pepper of Amtrak Intercity SBU was a speaker. During the Q & A session I asked him if there were any discussions, proposals or plans at Intercity to start up the Superliner production line. The answer was NO. He said Intercity does expect to get some equipment from the NEC and the West as they put new train sets into operation on the corridors.
“I also asked Mr. Pepper if Intercity had any plans for route expansion. Again the answer was NO, but that there was a comprehensive study being conducted. When advised that I had seen information on the internet about a new route in Oklahoma, he apologized for neglecting to mention that and emphasized that this new service largely was a result of funding which the State of Oklahoma was providing…
“So, as many of us had already deduced from Amtrak’s business plan, there doesn’t appear to be any emphasis on, or even interest in, expanding the national system. Corridors seems to be the current buzz word at Amtrak.”
