Kids Celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Trains

Thousands of young people streamed off of trains coming into Chicago's Union Station last weekend, coming downtown for the big parade.  We were there to see the green fun. 

We took the train from the Twin Cities to Chicago and back.  A state transportation official told NineShift this week if there was a second train every day on that route, it would be packed from day one. 

 

 

 

Comments

[D. P. Lubic]

And a good reason to celebrate trains:

http://betterinstitutions.blogspot.com/2013/03/even-with-poor-infrastructure-rail.html

More complete slide show; it's most interesting that the supposedly bureaucratic, "stuck in the mud" Federal Railroad Administration is taking note of the generational shift to rail(next to last slide)–and that the last slide looks like a nostalgia piece for the auto age:

http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L04395

Also of note is commentary from the National Association of Railroad Passengers that the long-distance trains are important as well; this is notable for some people would just as soon ax these trains and just have commuter or regional services around the coasts and Chicago:

http://www.narprail.org/resources/white-papers/2083-longdistancepaper

Sadly, not everything is good news, as a route through the west is threatened with abandonment (freight traffic has mostly gone away on this route, and the passenger train is about all that's left on it for now):

http://amaindy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3649:city-of-amarillo-dont-miss-an-opportunity&catid=40:an-independent-attitude&Itemid=60

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/article_ca15245d-420d-5885-8c35-7c997edeab1f.html