(The following story by Mark Sommer appeared on the Buffalo News website on July 19.)
BUFFALO, N.Y. — When Amtrak conductors shout “All aboard!” these days, they had better get out of the way.
The number of riders on Amtrak trains in Western New York and across the country is at an all-time high.
Why are people taking the trains? Reasons include long waits at airports because of security checks, increased traffic congestion and soaring gasoline prices.
Still, it’s no time for Amtrak to bask in success.
The 33-year-old outfit, which has fought in recent years for its survival, now must cope with the pending retirement of Rep. Jack F. Quinn, R-Hamburg – the reigning chairman of the House subcommittee on railroads and a strong Amtrak backer.
Passenger rail supporters fear that with Quinn gone, opponents will press to end Amtrak’s monopoly on inter-city passenger rail service and shut down the rail system’s money-losing lines.
“Congressman Quinn has been a terrific advocate (of Amtrak),” said Cliff Black, Amtrak spokesman. “It will be difficult, if not impossible, to replace him.”
Black said Quinn helped the financially strapped rail system obtain an infusion of cash to meet payroll during its darkest days in 2002.
“I think all rail advocates, both passenger and freight, are concerned about Quinn’s retirement,” said Bruce Becker, president of the Empire State Passenger Association, a statewide advocacy group.
Quinn says he believes the passenger service has enough congressional support to ensure its continuation.
“When I’ve fought those battles for Amtrak each year, I’ve never been alone. I think even without me, the battles will continue and continue to be won,” Quinn said.
Amtrak got its start in 1971 after Congress stepped in to preserve long-distance passenger rail service by bailing out railroad companies losing money on it.
Some critics have long argued Amtrak should be profitable and that taxpayer support is a waste of money.
Peter Van Doren of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, favors ending all Amtrak subsidies – even if it means eliminating long-distance rail.
“Passenger rail is an archaic, expensive technology that hasn’t been profitable since around World War II,” Van Doren said. “Some people on the right argue privatization would unleash productivity, or market-like solutions. I don’t think that would happen, but I don’t believe taxpayers should subsidize it, either.”
Amtrak officials counter that long-distance rail doesn’t operate anywhere in the world without subsidies.
Amtrak is requesting $1.8 billion for the federal fiscal year that will begin Oct. 1, but the Bush administration has suggested Congress provide only half that much unless Amtrak agrees to a major shake-up. Amtrak has said it could go out of business by February if that happens.
The administration advocates splitting up Amtrak through multiple-state compacts that would cover the costs of inter-city passenger rail. Federal money would be made available to the states, although the plan lacks specificity and – for now – traction in Congress.
Amtrak contends long-distance rail service is not the economic drain critics contend.
“Our position is that eliminating individual long-distance trains is not going to result in significant long-term savings,” Black said.
Becker said if that were to happen, a potential target could be the unprofitable Lake Shore Limited, which stops in Buffalo once daily in each direction between New York City and Chicago.
Loss of the Lake Shore line would leave riders like graduate student Ryan Driskel of North Tonawanda in the lurch. He regularly takes the train to save expenses as he goes between his home and school at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
“I’ve probably taken the train 15 times. I like the convenience and the (fares),” Driskel said, standing among 60 people in the Buffalo-Depew Amtrak station on a recent night to catch the 11:30 p.m. train.
The group included young people from England touring the United States on a monthlong rail pass and travelers like Jim McNichol of Milwaukee, who had visited his twin sister, Joan Veleza, in Cheektowaga and booked a berth on one of Amtrak’s 168 sleeping cars for the all-night trip to Chicago.
The number of riders on the Lake Shore Limited rose by 5.2 percent in April from the same month a year earlier, according to Amtrak.
The other Amtrak line that serves Western New York – the Empire Service connecting Niagara Falls and Buffalo to New York City, Albany and Toronto – posted a 1.8 percent boost over the same period. It’s part of the Empire Corridor, the fourth most-traveled line in the Amtrak system.
Joan and Joyce Zoerb, operators of Neo, a specialty gift and home furnishings shop in Allentown, ride business class to New York City two or three times a year on buying trips.
“You can go along the Hudson, and the scenic view you get in and out of small towns is really relaxing,” Joan Zoerb said. “We plan our trip on the way down and use the time on the way back to write our orders.”
In the 12-month period ending last Sept. 30, the number of riders for the three Buffalo Niagara region stations totaled 126,336, according to Amtrak. The Buffalo-Depew station was busiest, with more than 82,000 riders, while the Exchange Street station in downtown Buffalos had slightly fewer than 17,000.
This year, the number of riders nationwide is expected to reach 25 million, topping last year’s record.
Amtrak attributes its recent success to a back-to-basics approach promoted by David Gunn, its president of two years. He has emphasized restoring Amtrak to good repair while making it clear to critics that Amtrak can’t run in the black.
“There was political pressure to make Amtrak reach an unattainable goal of self-sufficiency,” Black said, “which was an excursion into fantasy.”