(The following was distributed by the Associated Press on July 28.)
President Bush’s Amtrak restructuring plan, sent to Congress on Monday, tries to create a competitive marketplace for passenger rail service where the states decide if they want to support routes. Under the plan:
–Amtrak, over six years, would become three companies: a private passenger rail company that runs trains under contract to states; a company that operates and maintains the Northeast Corridor; and a government corporation that would retain Amtrak’s rights to use freight railroad tracks and its corporate name. States would contract for the right to use tracks and Amtrak’s name for the passenger rail service they sponsor.
–States would form multistate compacts to invest in and run passenger railroads.
–States would submit proposals for capital investment and operations to the Transportation Department. Eventually, the states could pick a train operator from private companies and public transit agencies that would presumably bid for the contract.
–The federal government would no longer pay for operating costs; that would be left up to the states. But the federal government would pay for 50 percent of infrastructure costs.
–Amtrak’s property on the Northeast Corridor would be leased to a coalition of the states it runs through between Boston and Washington. For a time, the federal government would pay for capital improvements to infrastructure and equipment.
–For a while Amtrak would maintain and operate the Northeast Corridor. Eventually, private companies and public transit agencies would bid for contracts to maintain and operate the railroad.