One way that President Bush and Congress want to stimulate the nation's ailing economy is to provide people with rebates ranging from $300 to $1,200.

A significant amount of it surely will be spent at bingo halls, lottery outlets, slots parlors and Wal-Mart.

Instead of doling out $168 billion in a massive public handout and business tax write-offs, how about doing something unique -- like putting people to work?

How about resuscitating a market for labor, products and services on which America was built? How about spending the money on a meaningful public works project to improve the nation's lot for the long term?

"Getting Around" has a suggestion.

How about rebuilding and expanding the U.S. passenger railroad system, sadly neglected in the mid-20th century until it became one of the worst in the industrialized world?

The effort would be somewhat like the nation's interstate highway-building frenzy of the 1960s and 1970s. Workin' on the railroad would be timely, too.

Two months ago, a Passenger Rail Working Group, organized as part of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, unveiled a bold vision to expand passenger train service through 2050 with a $357.2 billion investment, $8.1 billion the first year.

If Mr. Bush and Congress have $168 billion to spend, why wait?

Frank Busalacchi, a member of the study group and Wisconsin's transportation secretary, expressed the obvious at a Washington, D.C., press conference:

"Highway congestion is only getting worse. Airline congestion and delays are continuing to mount. Gasoline prices are continuing to rise over $3 a gallon. We need to develop and expand our passenger rail system not only to provide needed mobility for our nation's travelers but also to help the nation's environmental efforts to reduce greenhouse gases."

The Vision Plan would maintain and upgrade the existing passenger train system, offering higher speeds and greater frequencies in rapidly growing corridors. Examples include Florida, the Gulf Coast and Pacific Northwest. Linkages would be strengthened in the successful Northeast corridor, such as the popular Keystone service with 13 trains each way now making 90-minute trips between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.

The Vision Plan also would build upon the system by establishing new service where population is expected to grow significantly, including linking Fort Wayne with Chicago, Kansas City with Omaha and Nashville with Atlanta.

Nationally, Amtrak serves more than 500 destinations in 46 states, operating more than 21,000 miles of tracks mostly shared with freight trains. It has racked up record ridership for four years in a row, with 24.3 million passengers in the last fiscal year.

Locally, two long-distance Amtrak routes serve the region, each with an eastbound and westbound section, meaning four trains a day stop in Pittsburgh: the Chicago-Washington, D.C., Capitol Limited and the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia-New York City Pennsylvanian.

My efforts on railroads' behalf likely will be for naught.

Politicians don't listen to transportation writers. They have all of the answers. And they like quick, easy fixes.

Living legends. Amtrak is looking for retired Pullman porters, who once attended to train passengers with diligence and dedication. The railroad is going to turn the tables and treat them like royalty -- same as they treated millions of people for more than a century.

Amtrak will bring them to Washington, D.C., on trains of course, for a reception in their honor Feb. 25 on Capitol Hill.

Joe Grata can be reached at jgrata@post-gazette.com.