(The Baltimore Sun published the following story by Stephen Kiehl on its website on July 29.)
BALTIMORE — Amtrak would be dismantled into a network of regional railroads, and private companies would be encouraged to bid on providing passenger rail service across the country, under a sweeping Bush administration rail plan to be sent to Congress today.
Amtrak’s functions in the Northeast Corridor – where it carries the most passengers – would be split between two companies. One would operate the trains; another would maintain the tracks and equipment.
Elsewhere, states would be allowed to form railroad companies and award operating contracts to whomever they choose.
“Our nation’s current system of intercity passenger rail has failed to deliver on its promise for American travelers,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said in a statement yesterday. “Business as usual is a recipe for failure.”
The administration’s bill provides for a six-year transition to the new system during which Amtrak would continue more or less as usual. But at the end of six years, service in the Northeast Corridor and elsewhere would be open to competition.
Maryland and other Northeast states would form the Northeast Corridor Compact, which would take bids from private companies and public transit agencies to run trains in the region. About 837,000 people use Baltimore’s Pennsylvania Station
annually, making it Amtrak’s 10th-busiest station.
“The administration does go further than anyone has proposed in the field of privatization of operations,” said Rep. John L. Mica, a Florida Republican and a senior member of the House transportation committee. “Amtrak is headed for another financial meltdown this fall, and this is a good reform proposal.”
Formed 32 years ago to provide passenger rail service across the country, Amtrak was supposed to be profitable after only a few years. But poor management – a few years ago the railroad counted 84 vice presidents – and rising capital costs sent Amtrak back to Congress every year begging for money.
Mica said the reforms could mean more money for railroads than Amtrak receives now because Congress has been reluctant to put money into what it sees as a failed operation. He said chronic reliability problems with the high-speed Acela trains have soured many in Congress.
“They completely blew the Acela high-speed corridor project,” Mica said. “Would you give someone who’s failed miserably billions more to take on other projects?”
In his statement, Mineta pointed approvingly to the Cascades rail service in the Pacific Northwest, which has seen a 45 percent ridership increase in the past five years.
The states of Oregon and Washington spent $170 million improving tracks and buying trains for high-speed service from Portland to Seattle. The Bush plan would provide 50 percent federal matches for such expenditures.
But some Amtrak supporters and critics of the administration’s proposal reacted angrily yesterday.
They said the plan shifts the burden of paying for rail service to the states, which cannot be counted on to pick up the costs because of their budget problems. The Oregon legislature is considering cutting the Eugene-to-Portland leg of the Cascades service because it can’t afford it anymore.
“This is hogwash,” said Ross B. Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, of the Bush plan. “This is a plan to shut down America’s passenger railroads.
“This means a choice between a massive loss in service or a massive increase in funding. Guess what outcome is more likely.”
The Bush plan would end federal subsidies to Amtrak – which total $1 billion this year – at the end of the transition period and instead provide infrastructure and operating money to states and multi-state compacts, which in turn would use the money for the rail service they want.
Mineta said, “I believe our states and localities, in partnership with the federal government, are best suited to decide how and when to operate passenger rail service.”
Amtrak has requested $1.8 billion in federal funding for 2004; the administration and the House have proposed $900 million. If the difference is not made up, Amtrak officials have said they will be forced to shut down the railroad.
Critics of the administration plan say Amtrak’s problems can be traced to years of poor federal support. They note that while Amtrak received $1 billion in federal money this year, the Federal Highway Administration received $31 billion and the Federal Aviation Administration $16 billion.
“If we can help the airline industry and bail them out constantly, we ought to be able to help the train industry,” said U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat and House transportation committee member. “We’ve basically treated Amtrak like a stepchild.”
Cummings, too, said the states cannot be trusted to maintain interstate rail service, nor is it their job: “Our states already have enough problems.”
In a terse statement yesterday, Amtrak President David L. Gunn said the railroad will focus on its immediate infrastructure needs and expects the Bush administration to support such efforts. He also noted Amtrak had no input on the Bush plan.
“Amtrak wasn’t asked to work on developing the plan and hasn’t been consulted or briefed on it,” Gunn said. He noted the urgency of repairing bridges and other equipment and said, “The gravity of this immediate need to maintain Amtrak’s operational reliability vastly overshadows any debate over the plan introduced today.”
In the past, Gunn has questioned the idea of privatizing Amtrak and made it clear that companies are not jumping at the chance to run trains in the Northeast Corridor.
“The Northeast Corridor is not profitable and never will be,” Gunn told a Senate committee in April, noting the big infrastructure costs needed to maintain the railroad. Of Amtrak’s $1.8 billion federal request for next year, more than half is earmarked for capital costs.
Amtrak operates about 265 trains daily in 46 states. The railroad carried about 23.4 million passengers last year.