Opinion: Obama, Biden wisely plan extra time for inauguration train trip

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Those Obama transition folks seem to have thought of everything.

They wanted the president-elect and his vice president, Joe Biden, to make a grand entrance to the nation’s Capitol for the historic inauguration next month.

So they planned a daylong moving arrival by having a morning ceremony in Philadelphia before taking the railroad down to Wilmington, Del., for a ceremony to pick up Biden and his wife and riding over to Baltimore for another ceremony and then going on to an evening event at Washington’s Union Station.

That’s right close to Capitol Hill, where the senators will take their new oaths to become the executive branch on Jan. 20.

It’s a nice old-fashioned touch, though, certain to get good TV coverage on the slow winter weekend and encourage eager photogenic crowds waving along the trackside.

But somebody smart on the transition team has ridden modern American railroads. Because they planned the train journey for Saturday, Jan. 17. (And notice, they’re sure not training it all the way from Chicago.)

Leaving Philadelphia on Saturday gives them Sunday and Monday to handle the inevitable equipment breakdowns and track delays and allow more important freight trains to pass by, so the new White House team won’t be late for Tuesday’s ceremonies and parade.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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