(The National Association of Railroad Passengers issued the following news release on July 6.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In yet another attempt to obscure the truth about intercity passenger rail, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta issued a news release (carried on PR Newswire, presumably at government expense) misrepresenting the relevance of the Alaska Railroad to rail passenger service in the lower 48 states.
The Alaska Railroad, whose primary business is hauling freight, does not run long-distance trains. Its longest passenger run, between Anchorage and Fairbanks, is only 356 miles and 12 hours long, in daytime (8:15 AM to 8:15 PM). For eight months (September 13–May 13), service on this route is one round trip per week. Because “Denali Star Train” (summer) and “Winter Aurora” (rest of the year) traverse some of the world’s most dramatic scenery, the route is “spoon-fed” cruise trip passengers in large numbers. None of this is very relevant to overnight trains in the Lower 48, where runs are much longer and the main business is transportation, not scenic cruises.
Apparently hoping the public will ignore the above, the DOT release says: “Mineta said the Alaskan railroad has demonstrated a willingness to innovate, running long distance trains that combine first-class travel cars owned and operated by cruise lines, while continuing to serve commuters and local residents across the state.”
NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon commented, “If the Alaska Railroad is a model in the drive to reform Amtrak, reform may mean shrinking Amtrak’s national network to a single, 350-mile-long route.”
Mineta refers to “an average of $214 to subsidize each Amtrak passenger.” It’s not clear how he got that number. Dividing Amtrak’s Fiscal 2004 federal grant ($1.218 billion) by its record 25,053,564 passengers produces $48.62, much less than one quarter of Mineta’s figure.
Moreover, $48.62 overstates the true subsidy for two reasons. First, much of Amtrak’s federal grant supports capital investment for infrastructure shared with commuter railroads. Also, there is widespread agreement that Amtrak’s grant cross-subsidizes commuter railroads in the Northeast Corridor.
Mineta repeats his “Amtrak is dying” mantra. Resounding victories for passenger rail June 29 on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives suggest that what is “dying” may be Administration understanding of intercity passenger rail, though this still could prove fatal to the business.
On June 29, the House:
* adopted by voice vote an amendment to raise Amtrak funding from the committee-passed $550 million (a shutdown budget) to $1.176 billion;
* adopted 269-152 (with 73 Republicans voting yes) the Brown (D-FL) amendment to strike language prohibiting the use of federal funds to support 18 Amtrak routes, including the only Amtrak service in 23 states; and
* rejected 352-59 the Kennedy (R-MN) amendment to reduce Amtrak funding by $100 million.
The Senate appropriations subcommittee plans to take up its counterpart bill July 14; the full committee July 19.