The Department of Transportation is committed to a fair and inclusive process as we implement a new Congressional mandate to charge commuter railroads access fees along the Northeast Corridor. As part of that process, we are reaching out to the affected railroads and states for input as we evaluate every aspect of passenger rail operations, including capital investments and ownership of tracks, to determine how best to proceed.

He serves at the pleasure of the president.

Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's are things you plan for, and you make sure you get your staff available,

There's some optimism that some of the larger vessels might be running soon, but I hate to put a timetable on that.

At the current level of funding, Amtrak won't survive, ... What we're trying to do is to save Amtrak. If we wanted to bankrupt Amtrak, we'd do nothing.

We would agree that intercity passenger rail can be part of the solution (to traffic and gas problems), but today it's not, in too many parts of the country,

We have world-class aviation, we have world-class highways, but we have a rail system that is not competitive with other countries, ... We (administration officials) are passionately committed to the idea that rail could and should be playing a larger role.

He was not involved in the negotiations with P&O to purchase terminal facilities in the United States. He has over 30 years of port and maritime experience, is a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and is a former naval officer.

We're committed to doing this in a thorough manner.