Celebrating 100 days in office, President Joe Biden visited Philadelphia on Friday, April 30th and stopped at 30th Street Station. He came to mark Amtrak’s 50th anniversary and also to push his $3.3 trillion jobs and infrastructure plan.
The president has a long relationship with Amtrak and wanted an employee, Blake Weaver, who he would always see when he rode from Wilmington, DE, to Washington, D.C. to be present. The president would take these rides when he was a senator, and the Senate was in session and even rode it sometimes as Vice President. He was referred to as “Amtrak Joe.” The conductor told CBS Philly that he treated everyone like family.
He came to know some of the riders so well that he threw annual Christmas parties for them and even attended funerals of some employees who passed away.
While there, President Biden talked about his American Jobs Plan, which includes an $80 million budget for upgrading American railways including Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.
However, for security reasons, he flew from D.C. to Philly, this time around. When he returned to Delaware after his time as VP ended, Biden told CNN that he had taken more than 8,200 round trips and traveled more than 2 million miles on Amtrak.
This is the third time he has visited the City of Brotherly Love during his time in office. We hope to see him back real soon.
