(The following editorial appeared on the Albany Democrat Herald website on July 29.)
ALBANY, Ore. — President Bush and some of the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are determined to kill Amtrak, the national network of passenger trains. This is a wrong-headed move the Congress as a whole ought to do its best to thwart.
Last week, before going on a long and undeserved vacation, the House Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill without making any change in the so-called “kill-Amtrak” funding level approved earlier by a subcommittee headed by Rep. Earnest Istook Jr., a Republican from Oklahoma.
The committee approved $900 million for Amtrak next year. About $1.6 billion is needed to keep the operation going for the whole year.
Istook was quoted that Amtrak would have to be reformed before the attitude of his committee would change. By that, he evidently means the cancellation of Amtrak’s long-distance trains. This would leave four isolated “mini-networks” serving just 21 states, according to the National Association of Railroad Passengers. It’s not known whether this would leave any of the Oregon trains running.
For the umpteenth time, passenger rail is a small but important part of the national transportation system, and its subsidy is far less than what the other systems get. The rail network, spotty as it is, should be maintained and expanded as an alternative to air travel, which some people cannot do and which may be interrupted by terrorists. It should not be cut back even more.