THE election victory of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the USA means the country has someone who is ‘on record’ as being pro-rail.
He spent decades from the 1970s commuting by train from Wilmington, Delaware to Washington DC when he was a member of the Senate, making more than 8,000 journeys.
It was this period that led to his nickname of ‘Amtrak Joe’ as he became so well-known to train crews and other rail workers.
Biden chartered an Amtrak train in Pennsylvania as part of his 2020 election campaign, and as vice president ensured then president-elect Barack Obama travelled to Washington for his inauguration in 2009 on a special Amtrak train.
Amtrak renamed Wilmington station as the Joseph R Biden, Jr Railroad Station in 2011 in his honour when he was vice president.