(The following story by Raju Chebium appeared on the Wilmington News-Journal website on May 9.)
WILMINGTON, Del. — A bill introduced in the House on Thursday seeks to explicitly allow private companies to compete to provide train service in the Northeast Corridor for the first time.
The bipartisan bill also proposes to provide $14.3 billion to Amtrak over the next five years and boost federal investment to use high-speed trains like those used in Europe and Japan.
The centerpiece of the bill, according to Florida Rep. John Mica, the ranking Republican on the House ranking Republican on the House transportation committee, calls for opening up the Washington-to-Boston route and 10 others across the country to private competitors.
Under that scenario, the nation’s taxpayer-subsidized passenger rail provider would have to outbid its privately funded rivals to run trains on Amtrak’s most heavily traveled and consistently profitable route.
Amtrak and NJ Transit trains travel on the Northeast Corridor, serving thousands of passengers every day.
“It’s pretty revolutionary. The private sector can develop, finance, construct and operate,” said Mica, a staunch Amtrak critic in the past, after a news conference announcing the legislation. “Amtrak would still control the corridor as far as train traffic (is concerned).”
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., and several other Democrats and Republicans on that panel support the bill.
The Northeast Corridor privatization proposal is a long way from becoming law and could get derailed.
That’s because many Democrats reject opening up the Northeast Corridor to private competition.
One of the strongest critics of privatization is Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who co-authored a five-year, $11.4 billion Amtrak bill that passed the Senate 70-22 in October. Lautenberg has said the federal government should pay Amtrak more, not less, to ensure that the country has a viable passenger rail network.
Republicans, including President Bush, want states and private companies to assume more of the responsibility for passenger train service and want Amtrak to be self-sufficient.
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The House bill, which serves as an alternative to Lautenberg’s measure, would provide nearly $7 billion through fiscal year 2013 for repairs, maintenance and other capital improvements at Amtrak-owned tracks and facilities such as stations.
It would also allocate nearly $2 billion for 11 high-speed rail corridors that Amtrak and private operators could bid for. And states would receive $2.5 billion to create corridors for intercity passenger rail, that is, routes between nearby cities where people want train service.
Oberstar said the legislation would help modernize U.S. passenger rail service. Europe, he said, has a $350 billion plan to link various countries through rails and canals.
“That’s the kind of vision we need for transportation’s future in the United States,” Oberstar said.