PARIS, Texas — Lawmakers who want to cut Amtrak service to East Texas are on the wrong track, according to U.S. Rep. Max Sandlin, D-Marshall, the Paris News reports.
The congressman, whose district includes Paris and the Red River Region, said passenger train service to East Texas would be eliminated if Congress does not approve the Amtrak Reauthorization Act of 2002.
The Texas Eagle line is one of the lines that potentially could be eliminated if funding is not granted, Sandlin said. The rail cars travel from Chicago, Ill. to San Antonio making East Texas stops in Mineola, Longview and Marshall.
Ridership on this line has increased nine percent since January of 2001 which has exceeded projected budgets, Sandlin said.
“Under Amtrak’s proposal, service between Boston and Washington will remain, while lines like the Texas Eagle route will be shut down if Congress fails to provide sufficient resources for fiscal year 2003,” Sandlin said. “Amtrak’s long distance passenger line provides critical transportation options for rural areas like East Texas, allowing rural residents as great an access to transportation as residents of fully urbanized areas.”
In 1997, Congress reauthorized Amtrak for five years at $5.2 billion. However, only $2.7 billion was appropriated, Sandlin said.
“This does not constitute a bail out,” Sandlin said. “In fact, the latest figure is only the continuation of a decades-old pattern of underfunding Amtrak while at the same time demanding that it become profitable.”
The passenger rail system needs an additional $1.2 billion in funding to maintain its current routes.
Not only would the termination of these lines affect travel for rural area residents, but it would terminate needed jobs for Amtrak employees, the representative said.
“The people of East Texas need and deserve access to a national rail network as much if not more so than communities in the Northeastern United States,” he said. “America and East Texas deserve a strong passenger rail system and I will continue to fight for Amtrak.”