- Joe Biden and Boris Johnson reportedly made train connections, The Telegraph reported on Sunday.
- On the new president’s first transatlantic call, Johnson asked about Biden’s travels at Amtrak.
- Biden planned to visit the United Kingdom on his first presidential trip outside North America.
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President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke on Saturday night by phone, with part of the conversation supposedly focused on mutual love for train travel.
Johnson asked Biden about his travels at Amtrak, according to a Sunday report in The Telegraph.
Biden, who is sometimes called “Amtrak Joe”, traveled from Delaware to Washington on the train for 36 years. CNN estimated that he made about 8,000 round trips on the same route.
Biden planned to take the train the morning of his inauguration, but changed his schedule for security reasons, according to The Associated Press. He promised a “railway revolution” during his presidency, which means that he would work to improve the country’s railway system.
Vice President Biden speaks on an Amtrak train.
Larry Downing / Reuters
Biden and Johnson’s discussion of train travel has led to a broader discussion of green energy and climate change, according to The Telegraph.
The official readings of the first Biden-Johnson call focused on cooperation between the two countries in combating climate change, COVID-19, and “global health security”.
The White House said: “The President has expressed his intention to strengthen the special relationship between our countries and to revitalize transatlantic ties, highlighting NATO’s critical role in our collective defense and shared values.”
—Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 1, 2019
The train conversation also failed to reach the UK government’s official reading of the call, which said the leaders “discussed the benefits of a potential free trade agreement”.
Johnson “reiterated his intention to resolve existing trade problems as quickly as possible,” said the official statement.
Read More: Meet Joe Biden, America’s imperfect leader
On Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to provide a timetable for trade negotiations between the two allies, according to a transcript of her comments.
She said Biden and security consultant Jake Sullivan see an agreement as important, because “everything we do must help the development of working families and the American middle class”.
Psaki added: “But right now, we are working to bring the pandemic under control, to provide economic relief to the American public. We, of course, can do several things at the same time, but those are our top priorities at this point.”
Saturday’s call marked the first transatlantic call to Biden since taking office on Wednesday.