(Newsday.com posted the following Associated Press article on its website on February 4.)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Amtrak won’t ever earn enough money to support itself and needs a budget larger than what President Bush is proposing, the train service’s president and chief executive officer told a crowd at Yale University Tuesday.
David Gunn said Amtrak will never make a profit, mainly because of the high cost of maintaining railroad ties, bridges and other infrastructure, the Connecticut Post reported.
Gunn spoke as part of a lecture series organized by Yale’s Industrial Environmental Management Program. About 50 people attended.
Congress has yet to approve a budget for Amtrak for the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Gunn said the service needs $1.2 billion to operate this year.
“If they (members of Congress) ever pass a number like $800 million, it’s all over,” Gunn said.
Bush’s budget for the 2004 fiscal year includes $900 million for Amtrak. Gunn said he isn’t looking that far ahead.
“Before I start arguing for ’04, I want him (Bush) to tell me what I have for ’03,” Gunn said.
Gunn said Amtrak would have a shot at continued existence in four to five years with an annual budget of less than $2 billion.
He said Congress is being unrealistic in insisting Amtrak become self-sustaining.
“Maybe we are sustainable, because they’ve tried to kill us for 30 years and we’re still here,” Gunn said. “We operate in a very hostile environment.”Amtrak came close to going under in July.
But a $100 million loan from the Department of Transportation and a $205 million supplemental appropriation of Congress bailed out the service, Gunn said.Amtrak serves 65,000 people a day in 46 states.
Gunn, a Canadian, has spent about 30 years working in transit agencies. He previously headed the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and the New York City Transit Authority.