Lakeshore Rail Alliance
@lakeshorerail.bsky.social
Promoting workforce mobility, economic development, quality of life for the Great Lakes and Northeast Megaregions through fast, frequent passenger rail service.
Widening highways over and over again, expecting that to fix traffic is that definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results
November 13, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Widening highways over and over again, expecting that to fix traffic is that definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results
While interesting on a theoretical level, no amount of driver education (or lane building) will fix traffic. We need high-quality options to the car keys so people can bypass traffic altogether.
October 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
While interesting on a theoretical level, no amount of driver education (or lane building) will fix traffic. We need high-quality options to the car keys so people can bypass traffic altogether.
Our parent org, All Aboard Erie, is holding a fundraiser on October 4, 2025. The nephew of the late comedic actor Don Knotts of Andy Griffith and Three's Company fame will be discussing his life and career at McClane Church in Edinboro, PA. Buy tickets here:
www.ticketleap.events/events/mclan...
www.ticketleap.events/events/mclan...
September 12, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Our parent org, All Aboard Erie, is holding a fundraiser on October 4, 2025. The nephew of the late comedic actor Don Knotts of Andy Griffith and Three's Company fame will be discussing his life and career at McClane Church in Edinboro, PA. Buy tickets here:
www.ticketleap.events/events/mclan...
www.ticketleap.events/events/mclan...
Though we at times criticize @amtrak.com, let's be clear about what the problem really is here: The lack of a strong, coherent federal passenger rail program with highway levels of funding annually (~$52 billion).
August 9, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Though we at times criticize @amtrak.com, let's be clear about what the problem really is here: The lack of a strong, coherent federal passenger rail program with highway levels of funding annually (~$52 billion).
Let's stop with the passenger rail double standard. Airlines can't exist without publicly-funded airports, traffic control, security. Some states directly subsidize flights. There is a federal Essential Air Services subsidy. Bus companies don't build highways. Highways lose huge amounts of money.
August 9, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Let's stop with the passenger rail double standard. Airlines can't exist without publicly-funded airports, traffic control, security. Some states directly subsidize flights. There is a federal Essential Air Services subsidy. Bus companies don't build highways. Highways lose huge amounts of money.
A lot of people don't grasp that 2/3 of the US has cities ideally spaced for high-speed rail as well as European-style night trains and fast, frequent conventional service to connect smaller cities and towns to those endpoint cities.
August 7, 2025 at 7:22 PM
A lot of people don't grasp that 2/3 of the US has cities ideally spaced for high-speed rail as well as European-style night trains and fast, frequent conventional service to connect smaller cities and towns to those endpoint cities.
Air quality alert last week in St. Louis. What kind of people are we that we are so willing to let our children get asthma, the lifetime of health risk (not to mention some will die from it), and the medical costs of treating it, all for the sake of a car-centric transportation policy?
June 28, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Air quality alert last week in St. Louis. What kind of people are we that we are so willing to let our children get asthma, the lifetime of health risk (not to mention some will die from it), and the medical costs of treating it, all for the sake of a car-centric transportation policy?
The platforms at St. Louis Gateway Sta. are wide enough to accommodate all passengers boarding and alighting at the same time, but @amtrak.com insists queuing people up like kindergartners. This practice does not enhance security or passenger safety. (continues...)
June 18, 2025 at 12:51 AM
The platforms at St. Louis Gateway Sta. are wide enough to accommodate all passengers boarding and alighting at the same time, but @amtrak.com insists queuing people up like kindergartners. This practice does not enhance security or passenger safety. (continues...)
We traded St. Louis' grand union station (top) for this sorry station (bottom)--and for a fraction of the trains. Hindsight is 20/20, but it doesn't change the fact that colossally stupid decisions like this is why America's passenger rail system sucks (photos taken today).
June 18, 2025 at 12:33 AM
We traded St. Louis' grand union station (top) for this sorry station (bottom)--and for a fraction of the trains. Hindsight is 20/20, but it doesn't change the fact that colossally stupid decisions like this is why America's passenger rail system sucks (photos taken today).
In a blatant attempt at a takeover by Class I RR interests, the Ohio legislature is trying to replace the passenger representative on the ORDC's board & replace it with a freight rep that doesn't have to be an Ohio resident. Contact the Ohio legislature today: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
June 6, 2025 at 2:16 PM
In a blatant attempt at a takeover by Class I RR interests, the Ohio legislature is trying to replace the passenger representative on the ORDC's board & replace it with a freight rep that doesn't have to be an Ohio resident. Contact the Ohio legislature today: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Just returned from France. Rode TGV inOui from Nice to Paris. Also used the train bet. Nice & Monaco. There's no doubt train travel is the most relaxing and dignified way to travel. It's quite embarrassing that the US is so far behind. (photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sh...)
May 29, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Just returned from France. Rode TGV inOui from Nice to Paris. Also used the train bet. Nice & Monaco. There's no doubt train travel is the most relaxing and dignified way to travel. It's quite embarrassing that the US is so far behind. (photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sh...)
I have to drive three hours to Buffalo tomorrow. It sure would be nice to take a train rather than drive. Cars: The most inefficient way to move people, and the most stressful way to travel.
(Photo by Ben Schumin).
(Photo by Ben Schumin).
May 6, 2025 at 1:53 PM
I have to drive three hours to Buffalo tomorrow. It sure would be nice to take a train rather than drive. Cars: The most inefficient way to move people, and the most stressful way to travel.
(Photo by Ben Schumin).
(Photo by Ben Schumin).
Who has more transportation freedom?
April 22, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Who has more transportation freedom?
2/2 Who has more transportation freedom?
April 22, 2025 at 4:15 PM
2/2 Who has more transportation freedom?
Trains drive economic development in downtowns where the financial payback for municipalities is greatest. Highways encourage big box retail which suck financial health out of municipalities. Read the #bigboxswindle by StacyMitchell: stacymitchell.com/front-page/
April 14, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Trains drive economic development in downtowns where the financial payback for municipalities is greatest. Highways encourage big box retail which suck financial health out of municipalities. Read the #bigboxswindle by StacyMitchell: stacymitchell.com/front-page/
Just a reminder that CAHSR's costs are not out of line and 10 years of lawsuits didn't help:
February 24, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Just a reminder that CAHSR's costs are not out of line and 10 years of lawsuits didn't help:
February 20, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Dreamstar Lines hasn't launched their 1st train yet, and already they have competition: Lunatrain. These companies will pay higher track access charges than Amtrak. If they make a go of it, then there is definitely something wrong with @amtrak.com's route accounting and/or its cost structure:
February 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Dreamstar Lines hasn't launched their 1st train yet, and already they have competition: Lunatrain. These companies will pay higher track access charges than Amtrak. If they make a go of it, then there is definitely something wrong with @amtrak.com's route accounting and/or its cost structure:
I wish we didn't have to post this stuff about Amtrak... sigh... (@amtrak.com)
February 12, 2025 at 5:39 PM
I wish we didn't have to post this stuff about Amtrak... sigh... (@amtrak.com)
Photo of a many hours late westbound Floridian at Sandusky, OH yesterday (scheduled time: 4:02AM). This has become common. We have a lackluster passenger rail system because federal passenger rail policy is designed for the status quo, not modernization and growth.
January 28, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Photo of a many hours late westbound Floridian at Sandusky, OH yesterday (scheduled time: 4:02AM). This has become common. We have a lackluster passenger rail system because federal passenger rail policy is designed for the status quo, not modernization and growth.
Who has more transportation freedom?
January 15, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Who has more transportation freedom?
America needs a train system like this. Modern. Competing operators (TrenItalia on left. Italo on right). Stations with wide, inviting platforms:
January 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
America needs a train system like this. Modern. Competing operators (TrenItalia on left. Italo on right). Stations with wide, inviting platforms:
Amtrak should listen to Ameristar Rail. They make a lot of sense regarding the much needed long-distance equipment order:
January 13, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Amtrak should listen to Ameristar Rail. They make a lot of sense regarding the much needed long-distance equipment order: