(The following article by Hank Schaller was posted on the Daily Oakland Press website on February 10.)
OAKLAND, Mich. — Passenger rail service in Michigan could become extinct if President Bush succeeds with a plan to eliminate a $1.2 billion federal subsidy for Amtrak.
The rail service that would be cut includes three Wolverine Amtrak trains that now make daily round trips among Pontiac, Detroit and Chicago, making stops in Birmingham and Royal Oak.
The same fate would hold true for the Pere Marquette train that makes a round trip daily between Grand Rapids and Chicago and the Blue Water train that makes a round trip daily among Port Huron, East Lansing and Chicago.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said the budget was designed to get Amtrak to make needed reforms.
“After 34 years of Amtrak operating losses and $29 billion in taxpayer subsidies, it’s clear that the current model of passenger rail service is flawed and unsustainable,” Mineta said. “The president’s budget this year is a call to action.”
In his budget, released this week, Bush proposed eliminating Amtrak’s operating subsidy and setting aside $360 million to run trains along the Northeast Corridor if the railroad ceases operating. Amtrak is getting $1.2 billion this year in operating subsidies and capital investment.
The White House predicts that, without subsidies, “Amtrak would quickly enter bankruptcy, which would likely lead to the elimination of inefficient operations and the reorganization of the railroad through bankruptcy procedures.”
David Gunn, who took over as Amtrak’s president nearly three years ago, has cut costs but not enough to stem the railroad’s annual loss of more than $500 million.
Gunn called the Bush budget plan “irresponsible and a surprising disappointment.”
The proposed cut in Amtrak funding comes following a year when a record 25 million passengers rode Amtrak trains nationwide during the 2004 fiscal year, up 4.3 percent from the 24 million passengers who rode the train the year before.
Ridership was up on all three routes in Michigan.
Ridership on the Wolverine trains in 2004 was 366,291 passengers, up 12.2 percent from the 326,367 passengers who rode the trains during the 2003 fiscal year.
Ridership on the Pere Marquette, which celebrated its 20th year of service in Michigan in August, was 87,767 passengers, up 19.6 percent from the 73,392 passengers who rode that rail line in 2003.
Meanwhile, the Blue Water train had 94,378 passengers in 2004, up 16.7 percent from 80,890.
Amtrak service on the Pere Marquette and Blue Water routes is subsidized with financial assistance from the Michigan Department of Transportation. In 2005, $7.2 million is budgeted to support the cost of those rail lines.
MDOT spokesman Ben Kohrman said he wanted to withhold comment on the Bush proposal until the department has more time to assess its impact.
Other rail advocates expressed immediate concern.
“We need a robust passenger rail system in this country to diversify our transportation infrastructure and provide choice,” Transportation Riders Association spokesman Larry Hands said. “Amtrak works to invigorate the urban environment and serves our existing towns and communities.”
Transportation Riders United is a nonprofit organization with a mission of improving transportation access and mobility in Greater Detroit.
Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail services to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 22,000-mile route system.