(The Great Falls Tribune posted the following story by Jo Dee Black on its website on October 10.)
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Amtrak isn’t going to shut down long-distance routes, including the Empire Builder across Montana’s Hi-Line, to save money.
Don’t expect to hear such threats made in the past from the passenger train’s newest president and chief executive officer.
“No, no, no, we are not going to cut or reduce the service now in place,” said David Gunn, who’s been Amtrak’s top dog for a year and a half. “The goal is to improve what we already have now.”
Amtrak can be better, but not to the extent that it will stand on its own without federal help, Gunn said. And it shouldn’t have to, he insisted.
“Keeping this system running, the nationwide passenger rail system, is the responsibility of federal government, just like providing a postal service or highways,” he said.
Gunn is on a 12-day, coast-to-coast train trip, handing out employee awards along the way. Thursday his itinerary took him westward through Montana, where Republican Gov. Judy Martz hopped aboard in Havre and rode to Shelby.
Gunn is critical of his predecessors’ practice of threatening to shut down routes to rally grass-root support and force Congress to authorize subsidy requests.
Although he’s in the midst of such a battle now, Gunn insisted we will not employ such tactics.
Amtrak is asking the federal government for $1.8 billion this year.
President Bush is proposing half that amount as a way to force the railroad to restructure itself. Congress has been cool to the idea, although neither the House nor Senate has yet to approve Amtrak’s full request.
“I think they were dead wrong in making those threats and they would never have been carried through,” Gunn said. “We need local support, but in Montana we have it. Look at what they handed me in Shelby,” he said, pointing to a red, white and blue flier printed with the words “Amtrak Yes!”
The fliers were offered by Shelby Mayor Larry Bonderud who said passenger service is used by residents to get to medical appointments in Seattle and at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Cut Bank and Browning residents also travel to the Kalispell Medical Center. The center has a service agreement with the towns’ local hospitals.
“It’s a rite of passage in Shelby when you are a kindergartner, your class rides the train to Cut Bank,” Bonderud said.
Mildred Wollan, 89, of Shelby rides Amtrak regularly to visit her children across the country. Thursday she was on her way to Whitefish to meet her son and attend a wedding.
“If they cut this service, I would be very angry,” she said. “I’m still mad that they closed the station in Culbertson, where I have business interests. Now I have to go to Williston, North Dakota, and my brother picks me up.”
The federal government should continue funding Amtrak, Wollan said.
“So many people rely on it, they are fearful of accidents on the highway, there are so many semitrucks on the road,” she said.
Glen and Kathie Lintner were on their way to Seattle for a wedding. On the train they met up with Glen’s sisters from Minnesota. It was Kathie’s first train trip.
“This is an adventure, you can fly anywhere, but this will be more relaxing,” she said.
Cut Bank residents Dan and Cindy Whetstone said Amtrak was their only way home from the Flathead area last winter after an avalanche closed Highway 2.
Martz, who rode with Gunn the whole way, said it’s time for Congress to quit viewing Amtrak differently than airports or highways, considered essential government services that get federal money.
“This line is essential service, it’s essential transportation service,” she said.
Gunn agreed.
“There are people here who pay taxes and their needs are just as important as people riding limos on public streets in New York,” Gunn said. “The federal government provides 80 percent of the funding for the subway in New York. Well, you don’t have a subway, but you have this rail service and it’s a pretty good service.”
Under Gunn’s guidance, Amtrak has a new five-year plan to take care of overdue maintenance and improve services.
He noted that a Chicago repair house that fixes cars that run on the Empire Builder route was reopened recently. Rail cars are being fixed up. Menus for long-distance routes have been revamped to offer variety to passengers.
“The (menu) selection runs through four cycles, changing every day,” Gunn said. Before, passengers had just a few choices on the permanent menu. “And the food is actually very good,” he said.
Amtrak’s own plan is the only concrete plan for the rail’s future, Gunn said.
“And this is a good, workable plan, we’ve done the numbers,” he said. “Other plans are just vague ideas, not real plans.”
Included in those vague ideas are the Bush administration’s efforts to get individual states to pitch money for Amtrak, something both Martz and Gunn said is unworkable.
“How would you do if say Montana had no money to give, North Dakota had a little and Idaho, that has just a little of the line decided not to contribute any?” Martz said. “This has to be done by the federal government.”
Gunn said he likes the theory behind a piece of legislation co-sponsored by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., that would provide $60 billion for the next five years to revamp government’s role in railroads and would include Amtrak funding. The plan calls for $12 billion from the federal general fund and $38 billion from bond sales.
“That’s a well-intended bill and it addresses much more than Amtrak, but I’m holding off on support until I see the final version as it comes through Congress,” Gunn said, explaining the original form probably will be altered by amendments.
Meanwhile, Gunn seems intent on polishing up Amtrak’s existing fleet and drumming up customer loyalty. He helped convince a U.S. District Court judge to stop a union-led walkout last Friday that would have protested underfunding by the federal government. Gunn argued that customer support can’t be won by stopping service. A hearing on that matter is set for Oct. 20.
“Our goal is to have full trains,” Gunn said. “We are overhauling cars so we can add them to this line. We are improving service to fill those cars up.”