(The following editorial appeared at PennLive.com on November 1.)
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Amtrak, which has faced a regu lar annual budget battle for financial survival, would receive a hefty boost in operating and capital funds over six years under legislation approved 70-22 this week by the U.S. Senate.
The House is expected to develop a companion bill over the next few months. It will set up a confrontation with President Bush, who wants to wean the national passenger rail system from its federal subsidy and have states take over the service.
Amtrak, which reported record ridership in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, would receive $590 million in operating funds for fiscal 2008 and $910 million in sorely needed capital funds for maintenance and equipment.
Few, if any, passenger rail systems in the world, public or private, operate without significant government subsidies. In Amtrak’s case, the Senate bill proposes to spend in a year what the military expends in a week in Iraq.
It makes sense for the United States to maintain a viable and attractive passenger rail service, particularly with air and highway congestion becoming worse. Amtrak offers a limited backup in the event of a shutdown of air service, as occurred briefly after the 9/11 attacks.
While Pennsylvania has benefited from improved track and service on the Harrisburg-to-Philadelphia Keystone Corridor, paid for in part by the state, Amtrak no longer offers direct service beyond Pittsburgh, which is served from Harrisburg by just one train a day.
Until the mid-1990s, the famous Broadway Limited, one of the most luxurious trains of its day, road the rails from New York to Chicago on the old main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad through Harrisburg. Direct service to Chicago was terminated completely in 2005 with the discontinuance of the Three Rivers passenger train.
Should Amtrak receive the more robust funding the Senate seeks to provide, a restoration of direct service to Chicago through Pennsylvania should be given serious consideration.