(The following article by Elizabeth Eaken was posted on the Munster Times on February 12.)
MUNSTER, Ind. — Darlene Perez is anxious to know if Amtrak will survive.
Perez was worried enough to question a conductor about the situation before exiting the Amtrak Superliner train in Hammond Wednesday night. Perez, of Michigan’s upper peninsula, stopped here to visit a relative after traveling to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota via Amtrak.
President Bush is proposing to eliminate government subsidies for Amtrak in his 2006 budget and create state and federal partnerships to operate passenger train lines. Proposed reforms put the funding burden on already financially strapped states.
If Amtrak ceased operation, the region would feel it.
Statewide about 1,063 Indiana residents worked for Amtrak and the company spent $19.7 million here last year. Indiana is home to Amtrak’s principal maintenance facility just outside of Indianapolis.
The Hammond station served 11,687 people, while the Dyer station served 1,042 riders last year. The four lines serving the region travel between Chicago and Washington, D.C., and New York.
The proposed elimination stirred sentiment on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said Amtrak “not only provides hundreds of Hoosier jobs, but also helps improve air quality and cuts down on traffic congestion.”
“I hope there are other ways to reduce the deficit, by targeting waste and efficiency, so that we don’t have to cut support,” Bayh said.
Calling the state’s transportation system “a key component to develop new economic opportunities,” Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., said there were better ways to save the railway.
“If the president’s goal is to reform Amtrak, I believe that canceling all funding in 2006 is the wrong approach,” Visclosky said.
Roger Sims, president of the Indiana High Speed Rail Association, said Amtrak does need improvement as a company, but tremendous improvements already have been made.
“I think Congress has clearly separated themselves from the president before on the Amtrak issue and will continue to do so,” Sims said. “I think key leaders on both sides of the aisle don’t agree with (the) president’s take on rail transportation.”
W. Dennis Hodges, founder and vice president of the Indiana High Speed Rail Association, said supporters have 10 months to secure Amtrak’s funding. His group is promoting development of a nine-state high-speed rail network that would serve Indiana.
Hodges said funding for high-speed rail should come within about six years. Within two more years the service could be up and operating.
“If they cut funding, all rail projects would be jeopardized,” Hodges said. “We really need to save this system. In fact, some economists think it would cost a trillion dollars to re-start Amtrak.”
Amtrak would split into a private infrastructure company and train operating company, effectively separating the Northeast Corridor infrastructure from long-distance train operations.
The U.S. Department of Transportation would lease the Northeast Corridor infrastructure to a compact of states that would be responsible for managing infrastructure and train operations along the corridor.
Outside the northeast, where Amtrak does not own track, individual states and interstate compacts could be negotiated with freight rail companies to develop new routes. This should lead to the development of corridor routes between major population centers.
After a transition period states would bid contracts for infrastructure maintenance and train operation among the former Amtrak companies and other private companies. States would cover train operating subsidies. Federal matching grants would help pay for infrastructure.