(The following Reuters article by John Crawley was posted on April 25.)
WASHINGTON — Amtrak said on Friday it wants to accelerate spending over the next five years on repairing its crumbling infrastructure, which includes equipment that is nearly 100 years old.
The nation’s only city-to-city passenger rail service unveiled a $4.5 billion capital program as part of an $8 billion operating plan through 2008 it will soon present to Congress to underpin its annual requests for aid.
Amtrak is getting $1.05 billion this year from the federal government for operating and capital expenses and has requested $1.8 billion for 2004.
The outlook, which envisions a reduction in losses, was unveiled as Congress deepens its consideration of whether to continue to underwrite national rail service. House and Senate hearings are scheduled next week.
“This strategic plan focuses on running a fiscally tight business and bringing the railroad to a state of good repair so that it costs less to operate and costs less for the taxpayer to support it,” Amtrak President David Gunn told reporters.
The centerpiece of the proposal presented by Gunn to the Amtrak board this week is a strategy to replace or repair track, signals, bridges, maintenance facilities, cars and locomotives.
Gunn stressed the plan includes no proposals to add service unless certain financing conditions are met. There are also no plans to reduce long-distance trains or borrow money.
The railroad has no access to capital markets because of its nearly $4 billion in debt and worsening finances in recent years, but Gunn said Amtrak is working to change that.
He said Amtrak auditors have signed off on the 2002 books and the railroad has increased efficiency and cut expenses to firm up future borrowing prospects. Gunn says it is a myth to think Amtrak, which has never made money in its 32-year history, will ever be profitable.
But he said the railroad can operate at reasonable cost with good service if certain steps to fix its infrastructure are addressed promptly. He said capital improvements are essential to maintain high-speed service.
“What we’re going to do is rehabilitate the system,” Gunn said of the nearly 2,000 miles of track in the Northeast that Amtrak owns. Tracks for other routes are owned by freight railroads.
Amtrak plans to install 428,000 concrete ties to support 162 miles of track and replace 270 miles of rail. It also wants to refurbish 200 miles of catenary, which are structures that support overhead wires on electrified routes like the flagship Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston.
Some catenary poles in the New York area were installed in the early 1900s, while some tunnels date to the late 1800s. Several tunnels are in the Baltimore area. Other equipment in use dates to the 1930s.
Other capital priorities include:
-Overhauling more than 150 damaged or wrecked passenger cars and locomotives to ensure that the railroad’s rolling stock is reliable.
-Replacing or upgrading certain bridges, including two movable spans in Connecticut.
-Fixing platforms, roofs, elevators and escalators at big stations.
Gunn, who has been on the job for a year, said critics calling for Amtrak reform — including some senior Bush administration officials — need to “get real” about the complexities of operating a national railroad and the length of time it will take to fix it.