It took a few decades, but Amtrak has finally given Vice President Joe Biden the opportunity to be the company's semi-official mascot. Biden, famous for having taken Amtrak to work as senator “over 7000 times” from Delaware to Washington, has penned a piece in the January/February issue of the Amtrak-owned Arrive Magazine about his love for the travel medium and its importance in the American economy. The reasoning that Biden the private citizen has a right to his opinion is valid, especially when he is praising something his government has a stake in. But there is something improper about the Vice President of the United States writing a commercial for a government-owned company, especially in the context of the General Motors bailouts that brought many to accuse the Obama administration of corporate micromanaging. (more...)

exclusive Tragedy struck a south-bound Amtrak train today outside of Philadelphia, after two girls were struck and killed by an high-speed Acela train. Mediaite founder Dan Abrams was in the first car of the train when he felt a large bump around 10:30 AM. “I was in the front car and the entire train shook. It felt like we were rolling over something,” Abrams said. “Train conductors told us that it was just debris, but upon arriving in Wilmington, Delaware we learned of the true tragedy." (more...)

A New York-to-Boston Amtrak train has been stalled outside Providence for over 4 hours because of an "electrical" issue, stranding passengers inside with only one working bathroom  — and Twitter isn't coming to their rescue. Despite numerous passengers tweeting at theh #amtrak hashtag, the train — which left NYC at 6:20 a.m. and stalled somewhere in the neighborhood of 9:15 a.m., according to one passenger —  is still parked in place. According to passenger Susan McPherson,the train is "down to one working bathroom" after the journey from NYC to Boston suddenly got a lot longer. (more...)