(The following editorial appeared on the Waco Tribune website on June 26.)
WACO, Texas — At a time when demand for passenger rail service is on the rise, Congress is poised to cut Amtrak’s budget request.
The nation’s railroads are capable of moving products and people at a lower cost per mile than by trucks, cars or airplanes.
With the price of gasoline and diesel going through the roof, this is a time for Congress to step up support for Amtrak and the nation’s railroads.
Last week, the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development approved $1.4 billion for Amtrak in fiscal-year 2009. This amounts to little more than an inflation adjusted budget compared to current funding.
Amtrak, also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, is a government-owned corporation organized in 1971 to provide Americans with intercity passenger train service.
In 2006, Amtrak carried 24.3 million passengers. In 2007, that number increased 6 percent to nearly 26 million passengers.
Since the price of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel shot up this year, more Americans are rediscovering rail travel. Just last month, Amtrak reported that ridership increased 12 percent compared to May 2007.
Amtrak officials asked Congress to fund a $1.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2009 and have requested a $15 billion investment to help improve passenger service over the next five years.
If Congress is serious about helping Americans cut back on their use of foreign oil, then helping Amtrak at a time when U.S. travelers are looking for an alternative to soaring gasoline prices would appear to be a no-brainer.
American airlines are rapidly cutting out non-profitable flights, raising ticket prices and adding a list of new charges in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.
Air travel could return to the time when only well-heeled travelers and business representatives could afford it.
While it is true that rail travel is subsidized, so is travel by cars and airplanes.
There was a time in the United States when 100 percent of intercity travel was by railroad. The flexibility of travel by automobiles and the speed of travel by airplanes undercut for-profit rail travel when the government built publicly funded highways, non-profit turnpikes and government subsidized airports employing government-paid air traffic controllers throughout the nation.
Congress also should consider that the baby boom generation is reaching an age where more leisurely train travel is more appealing than driving, a situation which will increase demand for Amtrak even more.
Because demand is rapidly increasing for train travel and because trains use far less fuel per passenger mile than other modes of transportation, Congress should not hesitate to fully fund Amtrak, which carries passengers over 21,000 miles of track to 500 destinations in 46 states. Most of the tracks used by Amtrak are owned by other railroads.
Amtrak deserves support.