(The Associated Press circulated the following story by David Eggert on July 3, 2009.)
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan may cut subsidies that keep Amtrak running along two of its three passenger rail lines in the state, a move critics say sends the wrong message as President Barack Obama is promoting high-speed rail.
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Funding would drop by half to about $3.7 million starting in October under a budget passed by Senate Republicans. Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and House Democrats want to reduce the subsidy to about $5.7 million, a 22% cut.
State officials aren’t saying how drastically service along the Pere Marquette and Blue Water lines could be affected. The Wolverine line from Pontiac to Chicago isn’t subsidized by the state and wouldn’t be affected by the cuts.
“People have grown very attached to both of these lines. We hear from passengers,” Michigan Department of Transportation spokeswoman Janet Foran said. “People like having these lines intact, in place and in their cities. We’re going to do everything we can to preserve this service.”
Amtrak has been targeted for cuts by lawmakers in the past, “but the communities affected always rally to the cause,” Foran said.
The Pere Marquette and Blue Water trains wouldn’t run without a state contract, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. He indicated it’s unclear how service would be affected, however, as legislators aren’t finished drawing up the budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
Mass transit advocates are worried enough, though, that they staged bake sales in four cities Wednesday to bring attention to the proposed cuts to Amtrak and local bus operations.
“We need to have state and federal support,” said Todd Tennis of the Let’s Get Moving Coalition, a group of public transportation supporters. “We can’t support public transportation funding with bake sales.”
Tennis said it’s time for Michigan to start “looking like a 21st Century state” and be less reliant on individual cars and trucks for getting around. The state should be spending more of its own money on mass transit so it can get more federal dollars for passenger rail projects, he said.