(The following article by Steven Chupaska was posted on the New London Day website on October 28.)
NEW LONDON, Conn. — According to a report by Amtrak’s board, plans are afoot to separate the northeastern portion of the national railway from the rest of the service.
The New York Times reported that the decision was made at a Sept. 22 board meeting to separate the Northeast Corridor, the highly traveled line from Boston to Washington, D.C., into a separate entity, with a new subsidiary.
The board is composed entirely of Bush administration appointees. The decision to divide the railway would require an act of Congress.
Amtrak has local stops in New London, Mystic, Westerly and Old Saybrook.
Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, who worked to restore Amtrak funding from the Bush administration’s chopping block earlier this year, issued a statement through his press office on the matter last week.
“Affordable, reliable and safe rail service in the Northeast Corridor is vital to the lives of the people of Connecticut who depend on it for their daily transportation and livelihood,” he said. “Any decision by the Amtrak board that affects rail service operations must be vetted through Congress. I will fight to ensure that any changes to Amtrak will serve only to strengthen rail service in the region, not weaken it.”
Simmons is the only member of the Connecticut delegation with a seat on the Rail subcommittee. He has been a supporter of train travel in the past, occasionally treating people to a deafening blast of his toy train whistle.
Amtrak has often been characterized by critics as a federal money pit, and the plan to split off the Northeast Corridor is seen as a cost-saving measure. The proposal calls for a new consortium to be formed with both the federal government and states contributing funding.
While some detractors are saying the move could spell the end for long distance train travel, others, such as Jim Repass, head of the Boston-based National Corridors Initiative, is adopting a wait-and-see attitude, though he called the government’s attitude toward railways “an embarrassment.”
Repass noted the Northeast Corridor has had separate management as recently as five years ago, but was folded back into Amtrak.
The plan comes on the heels of Amtrak’s decision to raise fares on both its Metroliner and Acela service in the Northeast Corridor due to rising energy costs.