(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Donna de la Cruz on September 28.)
WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s new president said Thursday that the U.S. should embrace rail travel at a time of growing transportation needs and high oil prices, but he gave no details of his plans for fixing the indebted passenger service.
Speaking publicly for the first time since he began his job Sept. 12, Alexander Kummant said two of his goals were finding the most effective and efficient ways to run long-distance routes and beefing up the infrastructure of the heavily used Northeast Corridor.
But Kummant did not say how he would do those things, to the frustration of some lawmakers. Other lawmakers gave him a pass this time around.
“I’m just beginning to understand how the organization is structured,” Kummant replied at one point during the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing.
Kummant succeeded David Gunn, who was fired last November. Kummant previously served as regional vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad and most recently was executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Komatsu America Corp.
Kummant said he’s always wondered “why the Amtrak debate is so emotional and at times acrimonious.”
“It really needn’t be, especially now,” he said. “At a time of high oil prices, growing highway and airport congestion and record rail freight volumes, problems which beset and constrain our transportation system, we should be embracing rail and developing it as quickly and as responsibly as we can.”
“We should get beyond the debate of a few hundred million dollars of operating costs and begin to realize the potential rail passenger service has to offer with the right level of investment and a clearly defined federal policy,” Kummant said.
Amtrak has debt of more than $3.5 billion and its operating loss for 2005 topped $550 million. It has never made a profit in its 35 years of operation.
Amtrak has suffered a string of difficulties. It had to suspend all high-speed Acela service in April 2005 after discovering cracks in some brakes. The congressional Government Accountability Office last year said Amtrak wasn’t doing a good enough job monitoring performance and spending. In May and June, three power outages disrupted trains along the Northeast Corridor.
Under a Senate bill, Amtrak would see its federal subsidy increased by 8 percent to $1.4 billion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1. Amtrak received a $1.3 billion subsidy for the current year. Bush in the past has proposed giving Amtrak no money.