(Reuters circulated the following article on March 14.)
WASHINGTON — Democrats in the Senate plan an Amtrak showdown this week with the Bush administration by forcing a vote on funding for the beleaguered rail service, congressional aides said on Monday.
The White House wants to discontinue operating subsidies for the nation’s only city-to-city railroad, a move expected to ensure its death.
The administration wants to dismantle Amtrak and turn service decisions over to the states, which could contract service to private companies.
Amtrak would become an operating company and could compete for business. The government and states would share costs for infrastructure maintenance and development.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta is scheduled to testify on the administration’s Amtrak policy on Tuesday before a Senate subcommittee on appropriations.
Mineta and his aides have argued for fundamental changes in how Amtrak does business. The railroad has never made money and lost more than $600 million last year.
David Gunn, the railroad’s president, has won praise from the administration and Congress for cutting costs and improving service. But the administration says Amtrak’s business model is broken.
Democrats retreated last week in separate efforts to force votes on Amtrak funding during House and Senate budget committee deliberations.
But with the Senate’s $2.6 trillion budget blueprint on the floor this week, congressional aides say Democrats are ready to propose a funding amendment worth $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2006. Details on who will offer the amendment and when are still being worked out.
Amtrak received $1.2 billion in subsidies for the current fiscal year and cannot survive without substantial federal help.
Most Democrats — led by those in the Northeast, where Amtrak has its flagship service — are expected to support the proposal. Supporters hope to pick off enough Republican votes to send a strong signal to the White House that its restructuring plan is unworkable in Congress.
Amtrak has not proposed its budget request for 2006, but Gunn’s long-term plan calls for more than $1 billion in annual subsidies to help rebuild the railroad’s crumbling infrastructure.