(The Helena Independent Record published the following editorial on its website on August 3.)
HELENA, Mont. — Some members of Congress are working hard to derail the Bush administration’s plan to “save” Amtrak by making states assume much of the responsibility for the nationwide passenger rail service.
We hope they succeed. Under the administration’s proposal, Amtrak services such as the Empire Builder along Montana’s Hi-Line would almost certainly be doomed.
The Bush proposal would have states form regional railroads that would hire Amtrak or other operators to run the trains. The federal government would help fund some of those operations, but the goal would be to minimize subsidies. As Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has pointed out, asking cash-strapped states like Montana to take on such costs is totally unrealistic.
Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., has joined three other Republican senators to offer a somewhat more realistic proposal. Under the slogan “National or nothing,” they would authorize $60 billion for Amtrak over six years, with $12 billion from the federal treasury and $48 billion from tax credit bonds issued by a nonprofit corporation set up for that purpose. States would not manage rail routes, but they still would have to match 20 percent of the bond money for repairs, maintenance and improvements.
Like the Bush plan, the senators’ proposal also envisions letting private companies eventually bid to take over some Amtrak routes.
There’s no question the Empire Builder is important to the communities on the Hi-Line, and indeed to the economy of the whole state. Most of the 12 towns strung along the route have no other means of public surface transportation. A state Department of Transportation study has shown that Amtrak contributes $13 million a year to those towns’ economies.
But in a larger, national sense, it is time to face facts. Despite congressional demands, Amtrak never is going to become financially self-supporting. It certainly hasn’t helped that its starvation diet has left it facing billions in overdue infrastructure work.
If we want a national passenger railroad system – and we do – there must be a dedicated source of funds to subsidize it. Such subsidies, along the lines of the senators’ proposal or perhaps an on-going percentage of federal and state gasoline tax revenue, could at long last allow Amtrak to offer the high quality service that subsidized passenger trains offer in Europe.
As the nation’s highways continue to become more congested, and as already-subsidized airlines continue to struggle, Amtrak provides this country a much-needed alternative means of transportation. We just have to bite the bullet, fund it properly, and let it work.