(The following story by Marilyn Geewax of Cox News Service appeared on the Boston Globe website on July 15.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With gasoline prices high and airports congested this summer, record numbers of Americans are traveling on Amtrak passenger trains.
Still, even with a 5.4 percent jump in ridership so far this year, Amtrak is not taking in enough money to continue operating and also pay for critically needed upgrades of rail cars, bridges, tunnels, and other infrastructure.
“Our equipment is aging,” Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant told Congress last week. Referring to dining cars built in the early 1950s, he noted, “We do a good job of maintaining them . . . but there comes an end point.”
To help keep the US passenger railroad rolling, especially in states outside the Northeast, two Democratic-controlled congressional committees last week approved spending measures that would boost the subsidized rail system’s budget far higher than President Bush would like.
On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $1.4 billion budget for Amtrak in fiscal 2008, up from this year’s $1.3 billion. On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $1.37 billion budget.
Both spending bills are expected to win approval in their respective chambers. Then a compromise funding figure would be negotiated for the final bill, which likely would pass in late September. But Bush wants Congress to spend only $800 million on Amtrak, and has promised to veto any spending bills that exceed his budget requests.
David Johnson, assistant director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, a membership advocacy group, said that if Congress were to go along with Bush’s budget, Amtrak would have to slash service to stay alive.
“At the $1.4 billion in funding, Amtrak could continue its current service,” Johnson said. “But at $800 million, there would be massive service cuts nationwide,” probably eliminating all routes in the South and Midwest, he said.
No matter what happens with the fiscal 2008 budget, which starts Oct. 1, several senators are pushing for a separate bill that would formally authorize Amtrak operations from 2008 to 2012, while providing a much bigger and longer boost in spending. Congress hasn’t authorized Amtrak or provided a multi year funding plan since 2002, and instead has kept it operating year to year.
The bipartisan Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, sponsored by Senators Frank Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, and Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi, would authorize $3.3 billion for operating subsidies and $4.9 billion for capital improvements over the life of the bill. In addition, states would get $1.4 billion to upgrade intercity passenger rail.
Just as with federal highway aid, the grants would require states to come up with a 20 percent match for each federal dollar.
Supporters say the bill’s five-year commitment would allow Amtrak to make the kinds of upgrades that would build customer satisfaction over time.
This year, the system will transport an estimated 25 million people, up from 24.3 million last year. Analysts believe ridership could be far higher if trains and facilities were upgraded.
At a House transportation subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Kummant pleaded for that chamber to move forward with legislation similar to the Senate’s to give Amtrak money for capital improvements. Such legislation is still being prepared by the House Transportation Committee and may be introduced this summer.