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    Elon Musk Proposes Privatizing Amtrak, Calling Rail Service ‘Sad’

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    Almost since Amtrak’s creation in 1971, the 21,000-mile U.S. intercity passenger rail service has been fighting calls that it should be privatized.Now it may have met one of its most aggressive and powerful skeptics yet.Speaking at a tech conference on Wednesday, Elon Musk added Amtrak to the list of government-funded services on his chopping board, calling the federally owned railroad “embarrassing” and saying that privatization was the only way to fix it.“If you go to China, you get epic bullet train rides,” said Mr. Musk, the billionaire who is working to dismantle the federal bureaucracy under the Trump administration. “They’re amazing.”China’s trains, which are subsidized by the communist government and have produced large public debts, link every large Chinese city and run at speeds of at least 186 miles per hour. Amtrak’s northeastern Acela, the fastest American passenger train, tops out at about 150 m.p.h.“And you come back to America, and you’re like, ‘Amtrak is a sad situation,’” Mr. Musk said at the conference, which was organized by the bank Morgan Stanley. “If you’re coming from another country, please don’t use our national rail. It’s going to leave you with a very bad impression of America.”Mr. Musk, who has criticized an ambitious effort to build a high-speed rail system in California, has also called for the privatization of the U.S. Postal Service, a concept that President Trump has floated. The president has not called for privatizing Amtrak, and the White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Thursday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      16 Are Hospitalized After Smoke Fills an Upper Manhattan Subway Station

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      Investigators believe the smoke was caused by a moving train striking an object on the tracks, officials said.Sixteen people were hospitalized on Tuesday after a subway train hit an object on the tracks at an Upper Manhattan station, causing a fire that filled the station with smoke, according to fire and transit officials.A total of 18 people sustained what fire officials described as minor injuries. Two declined medical attention, officials said. The conditions of those who were hospitalized were not immediately clear Tuesday night.The episode occurred shortly before 1 p.m. at the 191st Street station at St. Nicholas Avenue in the Fort George neighborhood, officials said. The fire was brought under control within an hour, they said.Service was temporarily suspended on the No. 1 line between 145th and Dyckman Streets as a result of the fire, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.By Tuesday evening, workers had replaced a rail damaged by the fire, and trains were running in both directions with delays, officials said.The 191st Street station is 173 feet, or roughly 17 stories, below St. Nicholas Avenue, making it the deepest station in New York City’s subway system. Riders enter and exit via either elevators to St. Nicholas or a 1,000-foot-long tunnel that runs to Broadway. More

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      Will NYC Revive Congestion Pricing After Trump’s Victory?

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      Gov. Kathy Hochul, facing pressure from supporters of the contentious tolling plan, is said to be exploring options for adopting it in some form.Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York is exploring options for reviving a congestion pricing plan for New York City before President-elect Donald J. Trump has a chance to kill it, according to four people familiar with the matter.Ms. Hochul’s move to salvage the contentious plan comes as she faces pressure from various corners, including a group that represents transit riders and is planning to start an advertising blitz on Monday in support of the tolling program.The plan that Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, is now exploring differs slightly from the one she halted in June. She is trying to satisfy opponents who had complained about the $15 congestion-pricing toll that most motorists would have had to pay as well as supporters who want to reduce car traffic and fund mass transit improvements.The governor has talked to federal officials about the possibility of a $9 toll and about whether such a change might require the lengthy, involved process of additional environmental review, according to a Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member familiar with the matter. The discussions were first reported by Politico.Mr. Trump, a Republican, has said he opposes congestion pricing, and his victory on Tuesday has apparently pushed Ms. Hochul to try to find a compromise.“The timing is everything,” said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, the riders’ group that is planning the ad blitz. If congestion pricing has not started by January, he added “it’s very unlikely it would start.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      M.T.A.’s Financial Needs Grow With Congestion Pricing in Purgatory

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      Transit leaders proposed a plan on Wednesday to spend more than $65 billion to upgrade New York City’s subway and bus system. Whether they will be able to fully fund it is unclear.Transit leaders on Wednesday released an ambitious five-year plan to upgrade New York City’s subway and bus network, unveiling a $65 billion wish list of projects that includes buying new subway cars, fixing century-old tunnels and installing new elevators.But the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the city’s mass transit network, only has about half of the money it needs to pay for those repairs. It was the first spending plan released by the authority since Gov. Kathy Hochul halted a congestion pricing program in June that had been set to begin later that month, and the largely unfunded plan puts the authority in an even more precarious financial position.The congestion pricing program, which would have tolled most drivers entering the busiest parts of Manhattan, had been projected to raise $15 billion for the authority. Ms. Hochul has pledged to make up the shortfall but it is not clear how she plans to do so.The authority had been enjoying a rare period of prosperity before Ms. Hochul’s decision to suspend congestion pricing. For the first time in decades, it had as much money as it needed, even while transit agencies around the country had struggled to recoup pandemic-related losses. But now that the authority’s projected windfall has evaporated, at least temporarily, it is back in the familiar position of needing to compete with other state interests to fill its coffers.The authority’s goals and upgrades were detailed in its latest capital plan, which covers the period from 2025 through 2029. Released every five years, it is the transit system’s most granular analysis of future maintenance needs and potential expansion projects.About half of the $65 billion has already been funded through bonds, federal grants and direct appropriations from the city and state, leaving the rest in limbo. Because the authority is controlled by the state, the remaining funds would most likely have to come from Albany.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Tim Walz and the Pull of Rural America

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      More from our inbox:A Rattled Donald TrumpCancer Screenings Save Lives and Are Worth the CostFrom Rust to Rescue HeroAn Olympic Transit Reality Check Abbie Parr/Associated PressTo the Editor:Re “Democrats Have Needed Someone Like Walz for Decades,” by Sarah Smarsh (Opinion guest essay, Aug. 9):Thank you for publishing Ms. Smarsh’s article, which so eloquently and succinctly illustrates how politicians, pundits and journalists have marginalized rural America by lumping us into a single category: red state.I am from a long line of early Indiana settlers: hard-working people who began as farmers and maintained honest lives while supporting democratic ideals and the Democratic Party. Reading this piece is a breath of fresh air, and I appreciate that Ms. Smarsh shares our appreciation for the honesty and direct communication of a fine person like Tim Walz. Thank you, Minnesota.Diana WannLebanon, Ind.To the Editor:Having grown up in a small town in Minnesota, I agree with Sarah Smarsh that Gov. Tim Walz brings back some essential elements into our politics.I am only a few generations removed from Norwegian immigrants who came to America and helped settle an area near the South Dakota border in the last decades of the 19th century.The effort to tame and harvest the prairie created a very pragmatic “let’s get it done and move on to other things” philosophy. Many of the older farmers I remember would describe today’s political rhetoric as “bells and whistles, but no engine.”Mr. Walz is not only a refreshing relief from much of the mindless political rhetoric we have to listen to today. He may very well also be putting the engine back on our national economy.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      NJ Transit Riders to Get a Fare Holiday After Summer of Delays

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      After a spate of breakdowns that caused long delays, an unscheduled “fare holiday” on the statewide transit network will start on Aug. 26.After struggling to provide reliable service to commuters this spring and summer, New Jersey Transit is giving its customers free rides for a week, Gov. Philip D. Murphy announced on Thursday.The unusual “fare holiday” on all modes of the agency’s statewide transit network, which will run from Aug. 26 through Sept. 2, comes less than two months after New Jersey Transit raised all of its fares by 15 percent. The increase received heavy criticism from customers and elected officials.Mr. Murphy and state transportation officials argued that the fare increase was necessary to close a gap of more than $100 million in the agency’s budget. Additional annual increases of 3 percent are scheduled.Mr. Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement that the fare holiday was a “thank you” to the agency’s loyal customers for enduring a period when “transit service has not consistently met their expectations — or our own.”During an appearance on “Good Day New York” on Fox 5 New York, the governor said, more plainly: “It’s been a really ugly summer. I think June was one of the worst months we’ve had.”Critics immediately took to social media to carp about the choice of the week leading up to Labor Day, a time when many commuters are on vacation.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Googly-Eyed Trains Lift the Spirits of Boston Riders

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      Organizers of a plan to adorn some trains with googly eyes said that if the trains could not be reliable, they could at least make commuters smile.Demonstrators marched to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Boston headquarters in April with a single, deeply researched demand.Put googly eyes on some trains, they said. Two months later, their demands have been met — at least until the decals wear off.The campaign was organized by two recent college graduates who cast the effort as an attempt to improve commuters’ spirits and promote empathy for the metal contraptions that transport them.“When T trains are delayed, people can at least look into the eyes of the train when it finally arrives, and feel some love and understanding in their hearts,” the organizers wrote before the march to the Transportation Authority’s headquarters.“The T doesn’t want to be late,” they wrote. “It feels bad being late.”The organizers said the Transportation Authority also had “a responsibility to improve the lives of Bostonians.”If the city’s trains can’t be reliable, they wrote, at least they could bring a smile to riders. The system averages about 766,000 riders on weekdays.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      New Jersey Transit Service Disrupted for Third Time in Less Than a Week

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      Rush-hour commuters at Penn Station faced a shutdown of close to an hour, followed by extensive delays, after Amtrak investigated a report of a problem with overhead wires.New Jersey Transit service was disrupted once again on Monday evening, with travel suspended in and out of Pennsylvania Station for nearly an hour because of a report of a problem with Amtrak overhead wires in one of the Hudson River tunnels.Service was suspended at 6:37 p.m. and resumed shortly before 7:30 p.m., but trains were still subject to delays of up to 60 minutes, a New Jersey Transit spokesman said.It was at least the fifth disruption for New Jersey commuters in the last two months, and the third in less than a week. Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains share the portion of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor between New York City and Trenton, N.J., so issues with Amtrak tracks or wires immediately affect New Jersey Transit service.Trains were held in place for about 25 minutes, or in some cases pulled back to Penn Station, according to a New Jersey Transit customer service representative.An Amtrak spokesman said service had been suspended as a precautionary measure after a report of trouble with the overhead wires that provide the electricity that powers trains moving in and out of Penn Station. The inspection turned up no problems, he said, so service resumed after about half an hour.During the shutdown, trains were diverted to Hoboken, N.J., and New Jersey Transit rail tickets were accepted for rides by private bus companies and PATH trains in Newark, Hoboken, N.J., and Midtown Manhattan.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      NJ Transit Disrupted for Many by Disabled Train at Penn Station

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      New Jersey Transit service into and out of the Midtown Manhattan transit hub was suspended and commuters were rerouted to buses and the PATH train. Amtrak reported 90-minute delays.New Jersey Transit service into and out of New York’s Pennsylvania Station was suspended Tuesday morning for about an hour and all Amtrak trains passing through the station were delayed because of overhead wire issues and a disabled commuter train on the tracks, train officials said.Service for New Jersey Transit was restored shortly after 9 a.m., but riders heading to and from Penn Station were still experiencing lengthy delays. Officials had diverted trains bound for Manhattan to Hoboken, N.J., and directed travelers to take the PATH train or buses instead. The station in Hoboken quickly became overcrowded, according to pictures posted on social media, as commuters tried to make their way to work.The disruption ruined the morning commute for thousands of New Jersey residents as the delays rippled out along the various rail lines in the state. Some riders reported being stranded at stations, waiting more than 45 minutes for their trains to arrive.The problems on Tuesday came on the heels of major rush-hour delays at Penn Station earlier this month, caused by an inspection of tracks owned by Amtrak. Service was significantly delayed for more than an hour.Service was also disrupted in May when an overhead wire used for traffic signals fell and struck a cable in Kearny, N.J., that provides electrical power to trains on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Trains were halted on Amtrak and New Jersey Transit in both directions between Penn Station and Newark, and delays stretched to more than four hours.On Tuesday, frustrated commuters used social media to complain about the delays, ask for updates and request refunds.“Without a doubt, delays are frustrating for everyone involved, including us,” Amtrak Northeast wrote in response to one post. “Regarding compensation, your full trip must be completed before we can take this into consideration.” More