RAILROAD
Biden: A longtime Amtrak booster
“We always had someone on our side, keeping an eye on our shops, keeping an eye on our pensions and keeping an eye on good union jobs. Joe Biden is the blue-collar candidate.”
--Sterling Rapposelli, Local 2270 member in Wilmington, Del. And worker at Amtrak’s Bear Heavy Maintenance Facility
- Rapposelli said Joe Biden saved his father’s repair shop from closing and sponsored a bill that made it possible for widows of deceased Amtrak workers to receive their husband’s full pensions
- Joe Biden spent 35 years commuting on Amtrak between his home in Delaware and Washington, DC and was one of the passenger rail system’s strongest advocates in Congress.24 In his honor, the historic Wilmington railroad station was renamed the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station in 2011.
Joe Biden’s Clean Energy Plan calls for rebuilding and revitalizing the rail sector by sparking historical investments that are key to the future of freight and passenger rail.25
His rail investments include:
- Ensuring that America has the cleanest, safest, and fastest rail system in the world – for both passengers and freight26
- Working with Amtrak and private freight rail companies to further electrify the rail system, reducing diesel fuel emissions27
- Establishing the federal government’s role in promoting and facilitating collective bargaining, helping the parties bring their negotiations to a rapid and successful conclusion and committing to a high standard for intervening in strikes,28 including under the Railway Labor Act, which has been used to prevent strikes and impose settlements on workers
Biden further states that his rail investments will include high-speed rail priorities.29
His Infrastructure Plan includes:
- Putting the Northeast Corridor on higher speeds and shrinking the travel time from D.C. to New York by half
- Completing the California High Speed Rail project
- Expanding the Northeast Corridor to the fast-growing South
- Beginning the construction of an end-to-end high-speed rail system that will connect the coasts across the Midwest and the Great West
IBEW Local 73 Political Action page
24 http://www.ibew.org/Journals/scans/IBEW%20Journal/2008-Fall%20IBEW%20Journal.pdf
25 https://joebiden.com/clean-energy/
26 https://joebiden.com/clean-energy/
27 https://joebiden.com/clean-energy/
28 https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-07-21-DRAFT-Democratic-Party-Platform.pdf
29 https://joebiden.com/infrastructure/
Page Last Updated: Oct 16, 2020 (20:57:34)
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