(Reuters distributed the following article by John Crawley on February 10.)
WASHINGTON — Amtrak on Tuesday requested $1.8 billion in subsidies for next year and warned the Bush administration and Congress the full amount was needed to keep its Northeast Corridor overhaul on track.
David Gunn, the railroad’s president, said Amtrak had adhered to business reforms imposed by lawmakers and the Transportation Department, restructured its finances and was doing better with strong ridership. But Gunn said the railroad could not afford to take less government help again than it needed and let capital projects slip.
“We’ve made progress but we’re not out of the woods,” Gunn told a news conference.
He said the request for the next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 put the nation’s only city-to-city passenger railroad at a funding level where it could continue to slowly rebuild the crumbling infrastructure on its flagship Washington-to-Boston line, which it owns.
Amtrak has been replacing old wooden ties with concrete ones, swapping out rail, and refurbishing cars and locomotives. Gunn said some projects, including bridge work, had been deferred because this year’s subsidy of more than $1.2 billion was about $600 million less than requested.
Gunn said the impact of that deficit was mitigated partly by the fact the administration allowed Amtrak to defer payment of a $100 million loan and the railroad began the year with $150 million in the bank. Gunn said next year’s cash carry-over would be much less.
“We will need a full appropriation (next year) if we are to continue stabilizing the railroad according to our strategic plan and eventually return our plant and equipment to a state of good repair,” Gunn said.
He said the administration’s subsidy proposal of $900 million was unacceptable, putting the matter squarely before Congress, which approved nearly $400 million more than the White House wanted this year.
Lawmakers are wrestling with a reauthorization of Amtrak, which could include long-term funding and changes to how it operates. A Bush administration plan to dismantle the railroad, give states authority over service and possibly contract routes has received a cool reception on Capitol Hill.
In a nod to the Bush administration’s preference for more creativity in rail policy, Gunn said he would propose the development of corridors in central Pennsylvania and the Pacific Northwest between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. States would share costs with the government and Amtrak would provide service on those short-haul routes.