(The following story by Larry Sandler appeared on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel website on June 10.)
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — For a while, it looked as though Amtrak’s Empire Builder wouldn’t make it to its 75th birthday.
But Wisconsin’s only long-distance train has kept chugging along to reach its diamond anniversary this week. Gov. Jim Doyle, Amtrak President David Gunn and state Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi will salute the Empire Builder in a brief ceremony at 3:30 p.m. today at Milwaukee’s downtown Amtrak station.
The ceremonies here, on the train, and at other Empire Builder stops from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest today and Saturday offer Amtrak a chance to tout the benefits of its often-assailed cross-country service.
To varying degrees, all of Amtrak’s long-distance lines have been under attack from critics in Congress and the Bush administration, who say those trains cost the federal government too much for the number of riders they carry. Short-range trains, such as the Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line, receive state support, but long-range trains don’t.
Gunn has called the criticism of long-distance lines “a red herring,” because shutting them down would save little money, after accounting for lost passenger revenue and fixed overhead costs, said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman in Chicago.
And in news releases about the Empire Builder’s anniversary, Amtrak touts the theme that the rail line provides “essential public transportation,” particularly for remote Montana and North Dakota communities that are far from freeways and poorly served by buses and airlines.
Debate about the future of Amtrak and its long-range trains is likely to continue during consideration of the railroad’s budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. Amtrak is seeking about $1.8 billion, up from this year’s $1.3 billion, while the White House is recommending a cut to $900 million, which Gunn calls “a shutdown budget.”
The Great Northern Railway started the Empire Builder on June 10, 1929, giving it the nickname of railroad founder James Hill. When Amtrak was created in 1970, the national passenger railroad took over the Empire Builder and rerouted it through Milwaukee.
In addition to Chicago and Milwaukee, the Empire Builder stops in Columbus, Portage, Wisconsin Dells, Tomah, La Crosse and the Twin Cities. It visits a total of 45 stations in eight states on its route, which has separate branches to Seattle and Portland, Ore.
During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2003, the train carried 415,722 passengers, up 13% from the prior fiscal year. From Oct. 1 to May 31, it carried 259,104 passengers, up nearly 8% from the same period a year before, Magliari said.