(The following story by Todd J. Gillman appeared on the The Dallas Morning News website on November 7.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five years after leaving the helm at American Airlines, Robert Crandall is about to tackle a different industry – helping to oversee the nation’s struggling passenger rail system.
At a confirmation hearing Thursday for a spot on the board that runs Amtrak, Crandall described himself as “a bit of a train buff,” despite his aviation pedigree. Recalling trips between Chicago and Rhode Island in his college days and his daily commute from suburban New Jersey to New York City early in his career, he assured senators that he has no intention of letting rail die.
“I am here because I believe that developing and implementing a sound U.S. transportation policy is an important task, and because I believe passenger rail should be a part of that,” he told the Senate Commerce Committee. “Trains and planes are not really competitors.”
Crandall was one of three Amtrak board nominees received warmly at Thursday’s hearing. All are expected to win quick confirmation: Crandall, former Kmart chief executive Floyd Hall and Lou Thompson, an expert on international railroad issues and former Transportation Department official.
Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a GOP committee member who has crusaded to expand Amtrak even as critics – including committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and the Bush administration – lean toward downsizing, said she was pleased at the Crandall nomination.
“He is committed to helping Amtrak do better and succeed,” said Hutchison. “Bob Crandall has been creative. He has been in a very tough transportation business, and I think will bring that experience and expertise to Amtrak.”
The appointments come at a crucial time for Amtrak. Congress has been divided for years over the system’s future. Should it be national or should it focus on the Washington-New York-Boston corridor and a handful of other popular routes? Should lawmakers keep demanding that it cover its own costs, which it has never managed to do? Or should Amtrak be treated as a public service like highways, with subsidies accepted as inevitable?
For next year, the House has approved $900 million for Amtrak, half of what Amtrak says it needs to address a huge backlog of repairs and upgrades. The Senate has approved $1.34 billion.
Crandall sidestepped questions about Amtrak’s scope, leaving that to Congress and the administration, but was more forceful on the justification for subsidies, which total $26 billion since Amtrak’s creation 32 years ago. Defenders note that airlines have gotten $30 billion since Sept. 11, 2001.
While “every function of government should be run like a business,” Crandall said – that is, efficiently and with good management and bookkeeping – “if you’re a business you have to make a profit. Passenger rail service can never make a profit.”
He also nudged lawmakers to stop thinking of Amtrak in a vacuum. He argued that better train service in the Northeast would take pressure off the airports in New York and Washington to expand. That would save tax dollars even as it freed up prized landing slots that airlines could use for more profitable long-haul flights.
“Unhappily, for whatever reason, our country doesn’t seem to do that kind of integrated transportation planning,” he said. “If this board can be helpful in moving us a step in that direction I’d like to see that happen.”