Traxx Thursday!

Sora In Hiding by Debra Martz
To find a Sora, look to the freshwater marshes. If you are lucky, one might appear at the edge of the reeds and cordgrass, but most often, they will be within the vegetation.

Seen at Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco, Texas.

https://debra-martz.pixels.com/featured/sora-in-hiding-debra-martz.html

Well shit.

I don't usually post bad news (because many here already know it) and try to concentrate on positive things that we can do to effect change.

But this sucks and I want to scream into the void.

The Amtrak (America's only "national" passenger rail service - there are smaller regional rail services, some that even cross a couple of states, but Amtrak is the only one that really goes all across the nation) CEO was forced to resign.

The US has shitty rail service as it is, and Amtrak is often hampered by state governments that don't want passenger rail (they're paid off by car companies, airplane companies, even bus companies, and even even freight RAIL companies).

But this just means that passenger rail is going to suck even more in the US and the US regime installs a loyalist to the Amtrak CEO position.

Texas can say goodbye to their high-speed rail line from Dallas to Houston:

(edit: And to be clear this isn't the worst of any of this by a long shot. It just hit me sideways today in the midst of everything else. Anyhoo... back to it)

#transit #rail #trains #passengerTrains #amtrak

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-passenger-railroad-amtrak-ceo-abruptly-steps-down-2025-03-19/

#Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner is stepping down after #DOGE leader #ElonMusk called for the #transit service to be #privatized.

Amtrak, also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, is the national passenger #rail service for the #US. It is nationally chartered, meaning the federal government is the majority stockholder. It also means Amtrak board members are nominated by the president & confirmed by the Senate.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/amtrak-ceo-steps-down-musk-privatization-b2718279.html

Events were held in the Hokuriku region Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the opening of the extension of the JR Hokuriku Shinkansen Line that connects Kanazawa and Tsuruga stations. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/03/16/japan/hokuriku-shinkansen-extension-anniversary/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #hokurikushinkansen #bullettrains #shinkansen #rail #fukui #kanazawa

Higashi-Nemuro Station marked its final day of operations Friday, with local residents and rail enthusiasts bidding farewell to the easternmost train station in Japan. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/03/14/japan/japan-easternmost-train-station-final-day/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #hokkaido #nemuro #jrhokkaido #rail

East Japan Railway has resumed operating coupled trains on its Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed rail line eight days after their suspension. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/03/14/japan/tohoku-shinkansen-resumes-coupled-trains/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #shinkansen #tohokushinkansen #rail