(The following story by Mike Ramsey of Copley News Service appeared on the Lincoln Courier website on May 28.)
CHICAGO — Illinois Department of Transportation officials are bracing for potential cuts in Amtrak service because of the state’s budget crisis, although the agency is still pushing for the same level of rail funding.
IDOT spokesman Matt Vanover said department staff have told Amtrak officials it’s possible that less money will be available than the $12.1 million Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration proposed for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Amtrak runs daily passenger trains from Chicago to downstate and to Milwaukee under a $12.1 million state contract that expires June 30.
The state-supported service is different from the federally subsidized long-distance Amtrak trains that stop in Illinois.
“The money that we are currently seeking may not be there because of this tight (budget) situation,” Vanover said Tuesday of IDOT’s $12.1 million request. “What we have to do is let the General Assembly play out the budget process and see what happens.”
Even if the full request is granted, another dilemma remains. The state won’t be able to buy the same amount of service for $12.1 million because Amtrak’s costs have risen, according to Marc Magliari, the railroad’s spokesman in Chicago.
Magliari said Amtrak would need about $12.5 million to maintain service levels.
A likely area for cutting: the Chicago-to-Milwaukee “Hiawatha” trains that IDOT helps support in a partnership with Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has been apprised by IDOT that Illinois may reduce its $1.2 million yearly share, according to Ron Adams, director of WisDOT’s bureau of railroads and harbors.
“Their priority is to continue service downstate,” Adams said.
IDOT pays for daily round-trips on three downstate corridors linking Chicago with Carbondale, Quincy and St. Louis (via Springfield).
By contrast, the shorter Hiawatha line offers seven round-trips most days and has enjoyed Amtrak’s best on-time performance rate. To preserve the popular service, WisDOT would consider absorbing some of the Illinois cost, Adams said. The Wisconsin agency currently pays about $5.1 million for its share, he said.
Talk about potential cuts is disheartening to Rick Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High-Speed Rail Coalition. His Chicago-based group sent an e-mail to members this week urging them to lobby against Amtrak reductions as lawmakers enter the final stages of approving a fiscal 2005 budget.
The group said Hiawatha frequencies would drop by about half, under a $10.9 million state rail subsidy purportedly being discussed in Springfield.
Vanover, the IDOT spokesman, disagreed that any firm numbers or cutback scenarios have been offered.
“There’s nothing formal or final. I think this is just speculation,” he said.
Illinois’ Amtrak-funding woes come as the White House has proposed restructuring the heavily subsidized railroad and placing more responsibility on states to finance intercity passenger trains. Amtrak last year posted its highest annual ridership in its three decades of existence but faces continuing criticism that it’s too reliant on federal funds.