(The following article by Glenn Evans was posted on the Longview News-Journal website on March 11.)
LONGVIEW, Texas — President Bush’s proposal to eliminate funding for Amtrak in 2006 is just the first volley in an annual game, a spokesman for the national passenger rail carrier said Thursday.
“Every year we engage in this discussion,” Marc Magliari said.
His boss, Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer David Gunn, was more blunt in a letter to employees he made public on the Amtrak Web site.
“In a word, they have no plan for Amtrak other than bankruptcy,” Gunn wrote. “Obviously, the proposal is irresponsible and a surprising disappointment.”
But Gunn acknowledged the final form the budget takes might not derail the Texas Eagle line, from Chicago to San Antonio with a stop in Longview, or other Amtrak routes.
“The president’s proposal is only the start of a long legislative process,” he wrote. “And we are taking it very seriously. This process has a lot of twists and turns, and it always takes six to nine months to sort out. It won’t have any impact through the ’05 fiscal year, but there’s going to be very little cash left at the end of this year.”
Amtrak has lost money since its creation in 1971. Its opponents say the company should sink or swim in a competitive environment, while supporters note that airlines here and rail lines around the world enjoy government support.
“I just wish that Amtrak were treated like other modes of transportation,” said former Marshall Mayor Audrey Kariel, a leader in efforts that saved the Eagle in 1998. “And it is not. It does not have a strong lobby.”
Bush’s budget for 2006 is $2.57 trillion. It includes $360 million to keep urban commuter rail service in the Northeast functioning if Amtrak were to go bankrupt.
“Rail passenger service in America will disappear under the president’s budget proposal,” said Dr. Bill Pollard, chairman of the three-state Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization. Pollard was confident, though, that the president’s cold-shoulder to Amtrak will not survive congressional amendments.
“I think the likelihood of Mr. Bush’s budget being enacted without change is slim,” he said. “I think Congress has always recognized the value of passenger rail service. And I think they recognize it even more now in the era of 9/11.”
He said Amtrak is required by statute to notify individual stations 180 days before a line is closed. No such letters are being penned for Texas Eagle or other line stations, Magliari said.
“We have no plans to issue such a letter,” he said Thursday. Magliari said the Texas Eagle route is unique in having a private group like Pollard’s backing it.
“Of all our long-distance trains, it has its own grass-roots support group,” he said, naming seat availability and ticket prices among responsibilities shouldered by the Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization. “It’s unique in our long-distance trains. And they are very proud of that, and so are we.”
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, helped secure funding for the Texas Eagle in 1998 that kept the Chicago-to-San Antonio line running.
“No comprehensive approach to meeting America’s mobility needs would be complete without a national railroad system,” Hutchison said. “To date, Congress has adequately funded our aviation and highway programs, but shortchanged Amtrak, limiting its effectiveness outside of the Northeast Corridor.
“I continue to believe railways have an important part to play to alleviate highway congestion and improve transportation capabilities. Amtrak has strong, bipartisan support in Congress and I will work again this year to provide sufficient funding. In return for this federal support, Amtrak must provide service to the entire country, not just the Northeast. We need to either commit to a national railroad or abandon the pretense of one. National or nothing.”