(The following story by Paul Nussbaum appeared on the Philadelphia Inquirer website on June 23.)
PHILADELPHIA — Next to Jim Cade’s auto body shop in West Philadelphia, an Amtrak retaining wall is crumbling into his parking lot.
Eight feet away, Amtrak and SEPTA trains rush past on the busy line that runs through the Main Line toward Paoli and Harrisburg.
“People ride by every day and have no idea this is like this,” Cade said, pointing to a section where the stone-and-concrete wall has given way entirely, spilling dirt and debris. “The deterioration gets worse with each rain.”
Cade worries that the failing wall could eventually undermine the stability of the tracks and cause a train wreck.
Several blocks away, at 52nd and Jefferson streets, three massive steel bridges that carry dozens of Amtrak and SEPTA trains every day are slowly deteriorating. Skillet-sized sheets of rust are flaking off, and daylight is visible through some side plates.
Throughout the Philadelphia region and much of the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak is struggling to maintain old bridges, tunnels, retaining walls and other infrastructure. Chronically short of money, Amtrak has put off an estimated $5 billion in needed repairs and upgrades nationwide, and most of that is along the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington.
That could be both hazardous and expensive.
“In addition to increasing the risk of a major failure on the system, the deteriorated condition of Amtrak’s rolling stock and infrastructure may contribute to higher operating costs and reduced reliability of service,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a study last year. “…The cost and extent of the needed improvements remain a significant burden to the financial viability of the existing intercity passenger rail system.”
Amtrak engineering officials say the aging infrastructure remains safe, but much of it needs to be replaced as soon as money is available.
“Do not confuse not-in-good-repair with not being safe,” chief engineer Frank Vacca said. “We are insuring rider safety all the time. The nice-to-do things get deferred, but that has no direct impact on safety.”
In the Philadelphia region, 89 of 323 Amtrak bridges are listed for repair or upgrade in the next few years – including the 52nd Street bridges, and about 15 are under construction now, according to Jim Richter, Amtrak’s deputy chief engineer of structures.
This month, the U.S. House approved a $14.9 billion authorization bill to rebuild Amtrak, following passage of a similar $11.4 billion measure by the Senate last October. President Bush has threatened to veto the Amtrak spending plan, saying the bills don’t hold Amtrak sufficiently accountable for its spending.
But the margins of support in both houses of Congress were large enough to override a presidential veto.
The effort to shore up Amtrak’s underpinnings comes at a time of record ridership, as increased costs of air and auto travel have helped sell train tickets.
“I’m very optimistic,” said Vacca. “We’re getting greater participation by Congress, and we’re making a lot more progress. And in the environment today, with higher gas prices and increasing ridership, it’s a further catalyst.”
May was the biggest month in Amtrak’s 37-year history, with total ridership up 12 percent over last year and ticket revenue up 16 percent. A record 25.8 million passengers rode Amtrak in the last fiscal year, and the railroad expects nearly 28 million riders this year.
With the new riders and the prospect of new money are growing demands for Amtrak to fix its system.
Philadelphia City Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., who chairs Council’s transportation committee, said he will ask the city to sue Amtrak if the rail corporation doesn’t do better.
He wrote to Amtrak officials in May, asking for repairs to the Lancaster Avenue retaining wall and the 52nd Street bridges and other sites. He said he’s gotten no response from Amtrak.
“I’m really going to make this an issue,” said Jones, who plans to convene hearings in September. “Amtrak needs to do its part.”
Richter said the retaining wall will be rebuilt in the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.
Nationwide, Amtrak has about 1,400 bridges, with an average age of nearly 100 years. That puts many of them beyond their anticipated life span. About 400 of the bridges are on Amtrak’s priority lists for repair or replacement.
“Many of our assets are older…and we haven’t had the capital allocation we would have liked,” said Vacca.
Amtrak officials declined to release the list of bridges and tunnels that are slated for repair or replacement.
Vacca said one of the top candidates is the Baltimore-Potomac tunnel, which was built in 1873. Replacement of the Baltimore tunnel would cost about $1 billion, he said.
The authorization bills that passed Congress require Amtrak to bring the Northeast Corridor into “a state of good repair.” To meet that obligation, Vacca said, would cost about $600 million a year over 10 years.
The bills that have passed the House and Senate now must go to a conference committee to iron out differences between the two versions. Then each house will vote on a final bill to be sent to the White House, where the threat of a veto awaits.