(The following editorial appeared on the Baltimore Sun website on February 25.)
BALTIMORE, Md. — Compared to airline travel, Amtrak’s post 9/11 security has been paltry at best so the announcement last week that armed teams are now randomly checking passenger bags and patroling station platforms is a welcome, if overdue, development. Baltimore travelers will confront the effects of this soon enough, because Amtrak has chosen to beef up policing on the Northeast corridor first.
But here’s the catch (aside from any delays or inconveniences the periodic searches may cause): What the Bush administration gives with one hand, it takes away with another. The White House wants to reduce Amtrak spending by $525 million next year, or about 40 percent from the current $1.325 billion.
You read that correctly. Despite all the talk about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, about energy efficiency and less dependence on foreign oil, about concerns over traffic and safety, Amtrak is facing cuts that would literally derail passenger service to much of the country.
This is familiar territory, of course. The Bush administration has been no friend to Amtrak, and only the timely intervention of Congress has spared it from similar devastation in recent years.
But this year there was reason to believe a more enlightened approach was at hand. The Senate had already made its position clear by approving legislation last year calling for an expanded passenger train network and stable, long-term funding for it. The House may soon follow suit.
What does it take to demonstrate to the executive branch the wisdom of passenger rail in the era of global warming and high oil prices? Can the need for an alternative means of interstate travel be any more clear?
Amtrak security is not going to be airtight. Random checks of driver’s licenses and bags will be helpful in avoiding the bombings that struck Madrid and Mumbai but it’s only a modest, if cost-effective, precaution .
The more pressing concern is to make sure that there are trains left to guard. President Bush’s willingness to cut Amtrak so severely shows little appreciation for the country’s changing transportation needs.