(The following editorial appeared on the Philadelphia Inquirer website on November 16.)
PHILADELPHIA — The House should support enthusiastically a Senate bill that provides Amtrak with more stable funding and seeks to make the passenger rail network more efficient.
The legislation approved by the Senate represents a welcome endorsement of Amtrak’s future. Sponsored by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) and Trent Lott (R., Miss.), the measure would increase Amtrak funding by 50 percent, totaling $11.4 billion over six years.
Contrast that with President Bush, who proposed to eliminate Amtrak subsidies in 2005 and wants to turn over Northeast corridor routes to various states.
Amtrak has never turned a profit, even along the heavily gaveled Boston-Washington corridor. But ridership was up 1.5 million in fiscal year 2007 to a record 25.8 million passengers. Gasoline prices at $3 per gallon and frustrations with air travel are two reasons why more travelers are riding trains.
Philadelphia depends on Amtrak as much as any region in the country. The 30th Street Station is typically Amtrak’s second-busiest nationwide – about 3.5 million passengers used it as a stop last year. The rail system operates 110 daily trains in the Garden State and 120 through Pennsylvania. Moreover, Amtrak employs about 3,000 Pennsylvania residents and 1,600 in New Jersey.
Since 2002, Amtrak has been scraping by with annual funding. The Senate’s long-term package would allow Amtrak to spend $4.9 billion on capital improvements to upgrade old trains and tracks, including $1.4 billion for inter-city rail improvements.
It provides money to repair tunnels and electrical systems in the Northeast, work that too often gets postponed. As with federal highway aid, the grants would require states to provide 20 percent in matching funds.
However, the hefty boost in funding should come with strict fiscal demands. The current legislation doesn’t go far enough. It demands more financial responsibility, such as a new accounting system and more transparency of its operations. The bill also seeks to boost Amtrak’s efficiency by 40 percent by cutting costs and increasing ridership, but it doesn’t do enough to eliminate high-cost, low-ridership routes outside the Northeast.
Critics argue that Amtrak subsidies are wasteful, but public subsidies of mass transportation are good energy and good environmental policy. Just as the federal government supports air travel and highway construction, so should it help keep passenger trains running.
A spokeswoman for House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D., Minn.) said yesterday that Oberstar would make the legislation a priority in the new year. Increasing Amtrak funding should be among the House’s first actions in January, and the Senate bill is a good model.