(GateHouse News Service circulated the following on July 11.)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — It is only coincidence that on the day Springfield gasoline prices hit a record of nearly $4.20 a gallon, a U.S. Senate appropriations committee approved a record $1.55 billion to run Amtrak in the coming federal fiscal year.
But Amtrak supporters certainly took notice.
“People are making it clear throughout the country that they want to take the train and ride the bus, or have a safe place to ride their bike. It’s just a matter of our elected leaders catching up to them,” said Rick Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, based in Chicago.
The $1.55 billion approved Friday, compared to about $1.4 billion for the current federal fiscal year, has a long way to go toward approval by the full Senate and House. The Senate bill includes $100 million that would be made available to states for improvements of inner-city passenger service.
Funding for operations and system improvements is separate from a reauthorization bill that also must be approved by Congress. The federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
“It’s significant that this is the highest funding level for Amtrak that they’ve ever had,” said Christina Mulka, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. The Springfield Democrat also released a statement that support of Amtrak is vital at a time when “families are choosing to leave their cars and take the train.”
Amtrak continues to set records, too. More than 786,000 passengers took the Illinois trains from October through June, an increase of 17 percent for the same period a year earlier. The increases came despite flooding that forced the rerouting of some trains and track improvements in downtown Springfield that required the carrier to bypass the local station for several days last month.
“We are still seeing sell-out conditions, especially with the peak days and schedules,” said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.
Harnish said the association has headed off a proposal to eliminate $28 million in state subsidies for Amtrak that were included in an initial round of budget cuts proposed recently by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Springfield gasoline prices dipped as low as $4.04 Friday morning, but several stations were already at $4.20 by noon after crude oil prices on world markets rose above a record $147 a barrel. Harnish pointed out prices topped $4.60 a gallon Thursday in Chicago, adding that record oil and gasoline prices are only going to increase the demand for mass transit.
“$4.20 a gallon (in Springfield) is probably going to seem cheap in a couple of years,” he said.
The latest record came just two days after the previous high of $4.16 a gallon in Springfield.