(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Donna De La Cruz on April 30.)
WASHINGTON — Last year, President Bush proposed no federal aid for Amtrak. Its highly touted high-speed train was sidelined for months with brake problems, and its president was fired.
Still, the passenger railroad chugs on toward its 35th birthday Monday.
To mark the occasion, a group of analysts who have followed Amtrak’s woes over the years will gather in Washington to discuss what critics call Amtrak’s “35 years of subsidies, waste and deception.”
“Amtrak keeps making promises that things would get better, one promise after another,” said Joseph Vranich, a former Amtrak spokesman and former member of the Amtrak Reform Council. “But people fall for the promises, and Amtrak survives.”
Keith Ashdown of the group Taxpayers for Common Sense said that Congress shoulders some of the blame for Amtrak’s financial woes. The railroad always seems to teeter on the brink of failure, but then is pulled back by last-minute cash from Capitol Hill.
Amtrak has debt of more than $3.5 billion, and its operating loss for 2005 topped $550 million.
David Hughes, Amtrak’s acting president, said the railroad has begun several initiatives to change some long-distance routes, streamline its finances and boost customer service while looking at cost-cutting initiatives such as revamping its food service.
One important thing Amtrak has accomplished is agreeing on a mission statement with its management, the board of directors and the Transportation Department, he said. The mission is to provide “safe, reliable intercity passenger service in an economically sound manner that will exceed customer expectations.”
His predecessor, David Gunn, isn’t buying it.
Gunn, fired last November after opposing the Amtrak board on numerous issues, said he thinks the board will hire a president who “won’t challenge City Hall” and won’t block the Bush administration’s goal of dismantling Amtrak.
Administration officials say they want to reform Amtrak, not destroy it.
Bush proposed no money for Amtrak in 2005. Congress approved $1.3 billion in subsidies. Amtrak’s budget request for the next fiscal year is $1.59 billion. Bush is calling for $900 million.
Gunn said that $900 million would force the railroad to “eviscerate the system,” saying that is too little for capital costs.
Analysts say Amtrak must stop relying on subsidies. Routes with low ridership should be cut, new labor rules negotiated and some operations privatized, they say.