(Reuters circulated the following article on June 15.)
WASHINGTON — Amtrak would have to cut its most unprofitable routes under a budget plan that a House of Representatives subcommittee cleared on Wednesday, but the railroad said the proposal would force it to shut down.
The Republican-led Appropriations subcommittee on transportation approved $550 million in aid for the rail service for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. In recent years, lawmakers went beyond the panel’s budget recommendations and gave Amtrak additional funding.
The amount is $190 million more than proposed by the Bush administration, which has offered to support commuter rail run by Amtrak, but not its core operations. Amtrak is dependent on hefty public subsidies to survive.
Administration budget and transportation planners have demanded changes in the delivery of passenger rail service between major cities. Amtrak has agreed to some reforms, which include giving states a greater stake in operating and funding decisions and contracting routes over time.
Amtrak is seeking close to $2 billion in subsidies, which is nearly $800 million more than it received this year.
In a memo to employees, Amtrak President David Gunn said the subcommittee action was “not a done deal.” Nevertheless, Gunn noted the impact of a $550 million subsidy would be the same as no subsidy at all. “And they know it,” Gunn said.
“It can’t run a single train from point A to point B – not on the Northeast Corridor and not anywhere,” Gunn said.
The Amtrak funding proposal was included in a $66.9 billion proposal to pay for transportation and treasury programs.
House lawmakers would permit Amtrak to use subsidies to help support routes on roughly 80 percent of its service, including flagship operations on the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington. Federal money could also go to heavily traveled short-haul trains in the Midwest and popular routes on the West Coast.
Not included in the plan is help for Amtrak’s most-subsidized services, the often criticized lumbering long-distance trains that mainly ply the nation’s interior and serve many small cities and towns.
One train from Orlando to Los Angeles receives a $466 subsidy for each passenger, while the ticket is $165.
Rep. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat and member of the House Transportation Committee’s rails subcommittee, said the “paltry” funding level would cripple the Northeast Corridor and disrupt commuter service. “The administration is intentionally creating a death spiral for Amtrak,” Menendez said.
But Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said the demand for reform is getting attention on Capitol Hill. “Today’s action by the subcommittee demonstrates that some in Congress are ready to make the kind of difficult decisions necessary to instill in Amtrak sound business practices and fiscal responsibility,” Mineta said.