COLUMBUS — Ohio’s only organization representing the state’s rail travelers said it was deeply disappointed at a Bush Administration plan for restructuring Amtrak, revealed today by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. The Bush plan proposes requiring states to take on more passenger rail funding needs and subjecting Amtrak services to competition from private operators and franchises.
Meanwhile, Amtrak is just 10 days from running out of cash. Amtrak CEO David Gunn said he will shut down the entire system starting July 1, absent immediate federal help. If the Bush plan is any indication, none will be forthcoming. Yet, the federal government continues its dominant role in the construction and maintenance of all other modes of transportation, be it highways, airports/air traffic control and waterways. According to the Bush plan, only passenger rail is expected to be self-sufficient, with states taking a lead role in funding and planning.
“This is free-market fantasy,” said Stu Nicholson, administrative director of the Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers. “No passenger rail system in the world is self – sufficient, least of all in the U.S. where the federal government spends just one cent out of every transportation dollar on rail. If this is the best the Bush Administration can do, they can do a lot better. We need federal leadership, not a pass-the-buck mentality.” Nicholson noted that during recent hearings of the Amtrak Reform Council, state officials said they need federal funding to realize their high-speed rail projects. Freight railroads, which own most routes Amtrak uses, said they will not permit passenger train franchises on their tracks. Labor unions said they will oppose efforts to contract out union jobs. And rail passengers oppose anything less than a national system.
OARP released its Amtrak’s restructuring plan, “21st Century Unlimited: Moving a Nation Forward,” earlier this year and is available at www.oarprail.org on the Internet. OARP calls for the following:
* Amtrak’s current situation be stabilized immediately;
* A “kick-start” of federal capital and an ongoing source of funding be provided; * That accountability be a major component of any plan for passenger rail.
As for Amtrak reform, OARP contends it is already underway. CEO Gunn is abolishing the corporation’s strategic business units, returning Amtrak to a traditional railroad structure, eliminating nearly 50 vice presidents, opening Amtrak’s financial books to public and congressional scrutiny and making other overdue changes.
“I fail to understand why it’s okay for Congress and the Bush Administration to give a $15 billion federal bailout to the already troubled airlines, but it’s not okay for them to assume a leadership role in funding railroads which helped rescue stranded travelers after Sept. 11,” Nicholson added.
“The Bush Administration is playing Russian roulette with America’s national rail system,” he continued. “In just 10 days, they will get their reward: Amtrak’s bankruptcy and a nationwide shutdown of all Amtrak trains. In turn, their Ohio constituents, 80 percent of whom support public investments in rail passenger service, will know how to reward them.”
Nicholson referred to the Buckeye Poll conducted in 2001 by the Ohio State University’s Center for Survey Research. The poll showed:
* 90 percent believed road traffic congestion in their communities was staying the same or getting worse, despite trillions of tax dollars spent on new roads and more lanes in the 20th century;
* 80 percent of respondents support public investments in passenger train services;
* 74 percent believe passenger rail would improve the quality of life in Ohio;
* 65 percent said that if federal funding is available for passenger rail improvements, state funds should be used to attract them;
* 60 percent preferred taking the train as the next best option to driving to places 75-300 miles from home (airplane came in a distant second, at 19 percent);
* 53 percent said the best way to relieve traffic congestion is to improve all forms of transportation, “including high-speed rail” (28 percent said build & expand roads).
The Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers is a nonprofit organization founded in 1973, and represents hundreds of thousands of people who use Amtrak in Ohio each year. OARP advocates the preservation, improvement and expansion passenger rail and transit services in Ohio to raise our quality of life and economic competitiveness.