DENVER — Amtrak’s long-haul passenger trains, which link the West with the rest of the nation, could be curtailed or even eliminated on Oct. 1 unless Congress provides more money, governors are being formally advised this week.
Amtrak is required to give 180 days notice before curtailing or halting service, so notices must be given by Thursday, the Denver Post reports.
Both the California Zephyr, which links San Francisco and Chicago via Denver and five other Colorado communities, and the Southwest Chief, which links Chicago and Los Angeles via Lamar, Trinidad and La Junta, are among at least 18 long-haul, money-losing trains on Amtrak’s endangered list.
“This is the most desperate crisis in Amtrak’s 32-year history,” said Amtrak spokesman Ray Lang in Chicago. Amtrak was created by Congress to assure a national passenger rail network.
Service only subsidized
The threatened shutdown comes barely six months after Sept. 11.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon dramatically pinpointed “the importance of a national rail system. We were carrying the country on our backs” after all commercial air service was halted, said Amtrak vice-chairman Michael Dukakis.
Although the federal government funds the nation’s highways and airports, it only subsidizes the nation’s passenger rail service, devoting less than 9 percent of the total transportation budget to rail, Dukakis said.
Amtrak’s current plight offers President Bush an opportunity to carry on a Republican tradition, the former Democratic presidential candidate told The Denver Post. Dukakis was defeated by President Bush’s father in 1988.
Dukakis notes that Republican Abraham Lincoln was president when the nation was bridged by steel rails. Another Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, developed the national defense highway system, now better known as the Interstate Highway System.
Today there is bipartisan support for the proposed National Defense Rail Act authored by Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., which would provide $4.6 billion a year for five years.
National debate expected
Also, Amtrak officials noted, the Senate Budget Committee’s budget includes $1.2 billion for this year.
The Oct. 1 deadline, combined with Hollings’ bill, is expected to fuel a national debate on the importance of long-distance rail lines.
Randy Grauberger of the Colorado Department of Transportation said state rail officials from across the nation met in Washington in late March and not one of the states could afford to help subsidize Amtrak passenger trains.
Grauberger and his counterparts in several other states say rail fans have enough political clout, if they use it, to keep Amtrak running beyond the deadline, giving Congress time to find at least a short-term solution.
Amtrak served 253,433 Colorado passengers in 2001. It had 99 people on its Colorado staff, paying a total of $5.6 million in wages and another $1.9 million for goods and service, according to Amtrak. Last month, Amtrak cut its 27-person staff at Denver’s Union Station in half.
The nation’s only passenger railroad “isn’t bluffing. It is in serious financial trouble and has been for some time,” said Jon Esty, president of the Colorado Rail Passengers Association. Amtrak towns from Fort Morgan to Lamar and Trinidad are appealing to their elected representatives to keep the rail service, Esty said.
The train most Coloradans know best is the fabled California Zephyr, which was created after World War II as a luxurious land cruiser. It was planned to provide the best of accommodations, food, drink and scenery, at a leisurely pace, with special Vista Dome cars. For scenic reasons, it was scheduled to go through the mountains in daylight and the desert at night.
Among the passengers on the Zephyr last week was Linda Lips, who has made at least 20 round trips between Denver and the San Francisco Bay area on the train because she enjoys the space, conviviality and leisurely pace.
“Even if it doesn’t make money, it is a civilized way to travel and provides transportation for people who can’t fly,” Lips said.
Debra West of Brush took her first train ride last week, from Denver to Glenwood Springs, with her folks, Larry and Alta West, to spend a couple of car-free days soaking up the scenery and the warmth of the hot spring pool.
“It would be terrible to lose the train because it is a piece of Western history,” West said.
Juggling passengers tricky
Lips and the Wests were lucky to have seats because the California Zephyr was sold out when it rolled west from Denver last Thursday.
However, that fact was misleading because more than half of its 220 coach passengers were getting off at either Winter Park or Glenwood Springs, less than 180 miles into the 2,430-mile trip from Denver to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Extra coaches from Chicago to Winter Park and from Reno west would give everyone plenty of room while assuring long-distance seats for those trying to buy through-tickets, Amtrak officials agreed.
On Friday, Amtrak is scheduled to drop off 155 skiers from the Midwest at Winter Park and 176 have made reservations for the following day. They’ll empty 21/2 coaches.
The numbers game has plagued long-distance trains in the West for years, as eastern-oriented Amtrak management shortened popular trains, reduced their weekly days of operations and ultimately eliminated some.
But Dukakis, who took his grandson on the California Zephyr last fall, said “We are very committed to long-distance service. . . . If something like the Hollings bill passes, we’ll knock your socks off.
“A total of 38 states are now clamoring for high-speed rail service and they should have it,” he said.