By Bill Lindeke, Columnist, MinnPost; November 13, 2020
There’s little doubt that one of President-elect Biden’s favorite federal programs is Amtrak, America’s 50-year-old, subpar rail system.
Biden earned the nickname “Amtrak Joe” by commuting by train regularly from Wilmington, Del. to Washington during his 40 years in Congress. A highlight of his recent “Build Back Better” campaign was a half-day train ride from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, streamed on Twitch as it stopped in Alliance and Greensburg in Ohio, and Latrobe and Johnstown in Pennsylvania. One pool report quoted Biden as saying: “I love being on the train, [my] favorite means of transportation.”