(The Star-Telegram published the following story by Gordon Dickson on its website on August 15.)
IRVING, Texas — Supporters say Amtrak is an important form of transportation for all of America, but one of its harshest critics says the passenger rail service operates like a relic of Cold War communism.
Those are harsh words in the eyes of Amtrak’s believers, but the criticism is an indication of the uphill battle that they face as they try to convince Congress that Amtrak is a relevant part of the nation’s transportation system and should continue to receive federal money.
Amtrak is a private corporation that was formed to take over passenger rail service in the early 1970s and receives federal funding. It is a commuter line in the Northeast corridor and parts of the West Coast, and provides long-distance passenger service in most other states.
“Amtrak is basically a Soviet-style train system that will never work when the government is in charge,” U.S. Rep. John Mica said this week during the sixth annual Texas Transportation Summit in Irving.
Mica, a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and a key ally of Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, opposes Amtrak’s request for $1.8 billion in federal funding for 2004 and its five-year plan to gain control of its debts and improve maintenance. A smaller portion of its operating costs are paid by passenger fares.
Mica says he supports the Bush administration’s plan to break Amtrak into regional components and require states to take control of under-performing long-distance routes.
Such a plan could force Amtrak to close its three Texas routes. About 224,000 riders boarded or deboarded Amtrak trains in Texas in 2002, including more than 61,000 riders at Fort Worth’s Intermodal Transportation Center. Fort Worth is served daily by the Texas Eagle, which runs from Chicago to San Antonio, and by the Heartland Flyer, which runs from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City.
A third route, the Sunset Limited, cuts across South Texas en route from Florida to California.
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, says such sharp criticism of Amtrak is not warranted and that Congress has consistently provided Amtrak with enough money to survive, but never enough to improve. Meanwhile, highways are subsidized by the federal government to the tune of $30 billion a year, and aviation gets $20 billion a year, she said.
Hutchison proposes that Amtrak receive $12 billion in federal funds to operate for the next six years. She also wants $48 billion in government bond funds, to be used to buy equipment and to fix the clogged freight rails that Amtrak rents from other railroad companies on most of its routes.
“We have never given Amtrak the kind support we’ve given our other forms of transportation,” Hutchison said during the summit. “After 9-11 … the airlines have cut back 25 percent of their flights. I want the aviation industry to come back up, but I think there’s room for Amtrak to become a healthy alternative without taking away from aviation or highways.”
But the debate is sure to be littered with stinging criticisms from opponents such as Mica.
“Congress gave Amtrak the power to do everything, and they do nothing well,” Mica said. “With the Northeast Corridor, we gave them billions of dollars to get the high-speed rail corridor developed. They couldn’t do it. The finances at Enron were a lot better than at Amtrak.”
Amtrak officials think there is enough support in Congress to keep the system running for another year, said Tyrone Bland, Amtrak director of government affairs for the western U.S. More than 220 members of Congress have signed a letter saying they support giving Amtrak Chief Executive David Gunn the funding he has requested for 2004.
Amtrak officials hope to educate Congress and the traveling public about Gunn’s five-year plan to make Amtrak financially healthy.
“We’re not where we need to be, but there is growing support,” Bland said.