(The following article was posted on the Kalamazoo Gazette website on September 26.)
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Local rail passengers can take comfort in knowing that Amtrak trains will continue to roll through Kalamazoo with the same frequency and speed that they have been.
But Amtrak officials who authored a recently released five-year strategic plan say they need a systemwide annual operational budget of $1.8 billion from the federal government if they are going to:
— Pay for needed improvements to facilities and equipment.
— Move the national passenger rail system past an annual funding crisis.
— Increase the passenger rail service’s operational reliability.
— Maintain increases in ridership in areas such as the Chicago-to-Detroit corridor.
Amtrak is operating on an appropriation of $900 million this year. Its five-year plan calls for Congress to rebuild the national passenger rail system for the 21st century and restructure the federal government’s planning, funding and oversight of the system.
Part of that is a request for major infrastructure improvements in the railroad system, including the replacement of about 270 miles of rail and improvements to railroad signaling equipment.
“We’ve shown that we are able to take a long look at what needs to happen to put the railroad in a good state of repair and a vision of what’s to be done to provide more service in partnership with states and railroads,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.
Amtrak has identified track segments where its service is threatened — none in the Chicago-to-Detroit corridor — because of possible abandonment or downgrading by the freight railroads that own the track.
Amtrak owns one-third of the track on the Chicago-to-Detroit route, from Kalamazoo to Porter, Ind. But Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads own the remainder, said Ross B. Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. The result is sporadic freight-train interference that causes delays in Amtrak service, a source of frustration for passengers.
“The law gives Amtrak trains the right of way, but if there are serious congestion problems, having the right of way isn’t worth much,” Capon said. “One of the long-range plans would be to reactivate a right of way as a passenger-only line. There’s a lot of congestion on Norfolk Southern as you get closer to Chicago.”
Six trains — three eastbound and three westbound — serve the Kalamazoo area daily as part of Amtrak’s Wolverine Line, which operates between Chicago and Detroit. As of Aug. 31, the Wolverine Line had accommodated 339,012 riders year-to-date, which is already a 3.8 percent increase from last year’s total ridership of 326,367.
Ridership on the Blue Water Line, which serves Kalamazoo by way of Port Huron and East Lansing, also is up — 7.7 percent from last year’s ridership total of 80,890. That line has had 87,159 riders thus far this year.
The report credits increases in ridership to consumers’ recognition of rail transportation as a viable alternative to congested highways and airports. But it says funding is essential to maintain that.
An 11 percent increase in ridership on the Pere Marquette Line (from 73,392 last year to 81,489 year-to-date), may not be enough to maintain that route. The line connects Grand Rapids to Chicago and makes stops in Holland, St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. But its traffic may be rerouted through Kalamazoo if Florida-based CSX freight railroad, which owns part of the track, finds greater efficiencies by using an alternate rail line and decides to close its part of the route.
“We are looking at some routes across the country where the track we use is subject to abandonment as is the corridor to and from Grand Rapids on the Pere Marquette,” Magliari said. “A significant section of that trackage is on a line south of Grand Rapids that is at risk for downgrading, abandonment or sale.”
Meg Scheu, a spokeswoman for CSX, said no decisions have been made on the future of the Pere Marquette track lines. She said CSX is, however, always looking at more efficient ways to run its 23,000 miles of track.
Tim Hoeffner, manager of rail passenger services for the state of Michigan, said Congress is looking at appropriating anywhere from $900 million to the $1.8 billion that Amtrak wants for its ongoing operations and capital-improvement projects. The Bush administration supports spending $900 million, while a Senate committee earmarked $1.2 billion, according to Associated Press reports.
Hoeffner and Amtrak President David Gunn, in testimony to Congress earlier this year, said this amount could effectively shut down the nationwide passenger-rail system because it would not be enough to continue to run and maintain trains or the equipment needed to operate the system.
Congress has not yet approved the budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.