(The following story by Robert Cohen appeared on the Neward Star-Ledger website on December 17.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amtrak ridership jumped to a record 25.8 million passengers in the last fiscal year, fueled by discontent with airline delays, highway congestion and rising gas prices.
Yet the national passenger railroad continues to struggle with a budget that loses a half billion dollars annually, a total debt of $3.4 billion, deteriorating infrastructure and a White House that for the last seven years has wanted to see it dismantled.
“The tide has turned with the public about how the railroad is perceived. People are voting with their wallets for inter-city rail transportation,” said Thomas Downs, a former Amtrak president and now head of the nonprofit Eno Transportation Foundation.
“The question,” he said, “is whether that will finally translate into additional political will and support in Congress for properly funding the railroad.”
Since the Democrats took control in January, Congress for the first time in years has shown signs of getting behind the government-subsidized rail system.
On Oct. 30, the Senate took a big pro-Amtrak step by voting 70 to 22 for an $11.4 billion, six-year authorization bill sponsored by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.).
The measure establishes a blueprint for predictable operating subsidies and calls for an average of $815 million a year for improving tracks, bridges and tunnels and buying rail cars — about $320 million more per year than is allocated now. It also increases funding for debt relief and offers matching grants to the states for local rail projects.
Moreover, the legislation eliminates a decade-old requirement that Amtrak make enough money to cover operating costs, an unfulfilled goal of fiscal conservatives.
The House is expected to follow the Senate’s lead and approve an Amtrak bill early next year. But even with final congressional passage, obstacles will remain.
President Bush has stopped short of threatening a veto, but the White House issued a statement saying the administration will not fund Amtrak at the levels authorized in the Senate legislation, and criticized the bill for failing to include enough financial and governance reforms.
Even after Bush leaves office in 2009, Amtrak’s supporters acknowledge they will have to wage yearly battles to secure the funding levels outlined in the legislation because of budgetary constraints and political opposition.
Amtrak has never recorded a profit since it was created by Congress in 1971 to replace money-losing and bankrupt private inter-city rail lines that had been operated by freight railroads. Meanwhile, it has received more than $40 billion in federal aid.
As the politics play out, Amtrak reported an all-time high for ridership during the 2007 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 — 25.8 million passengers. That represents an increase of 1.5 million riders from the year before, and marks the fifth straight year of gains.
In addition, ticket revenue in fiscal 2007 reached $1.5 billion, an 11 percent increase over $1.37 billion in fiscal 2006. With contract services included, Amtrak said its total revenue reached $2.2 billion.
Amtrak received $1.29 billion a year from Congress in fiscal 2006 and 2007, and is slated to get $1.34 billion for the current 2008 fiscal year for operations, capital needs and debt service. Amtrak has averaged an operating loss of about $485 million a year for the last several years.
The Senate bill envisions Amtrak appropriations increasing to an average of $1.9 billion a year for six years, with some of the money going to states for improvements to local transit systems, such as NJ Transit.
TURNING POINT
New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri said the Bush administration has wanted to break up and privatize the rail line. The Senate legislation, he said, sends the opposite message, that “we need a strong, viable, efficiently run rail system under public control.”
He said he hopes the Lautenberg legislation represents a turning point, especially for the Northeast Corridor that serves New Jersey.
Amtrak reported its passenger growth has soared along the Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston, with the high-speed Acela Express service carrying 3.1 million riders during the last fiscal year, a 20 percent increase.
“This bill essentially can ensure a stable source of funding to perform repair projects long overdue on the system,” said Kolluri.
Alex Kummant, Amtrak’s president, said in a recent statement that highway and air congestion combined with volatile fuel prices and environmental concerns are making rail travel “relevant in today’s world.”
Downs agreed, saying “people are sick to death of flying, paying more than $3 a gallon for gasoline and being stuck in traffic.”
One recent Amtrak convert is Bill Shearer of Basking Ridge, who was heading to Metropark in Iselin from Washington’s Union Station last week after two days of business meetings. Shearer said he has taken Amtrak for the last two years because “it’s on time and I don’t have to stand around airports forever. … It’s less hassle than flying or driving, plus I can do work on the train.”
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black called passage of the Senate bill “a positive development” that could allow for “modest growth.” He said the capital funding would support rail improvements and better service along the busy Northeast Corridor.
Lautenberg said he believes passing the legislation “will improve Amtrak and make train travel a more attractive option throughout the country”