(The following editorial was posted on the New York Times website on May 28.)
NEW YORK — When the trains are speeding along and a blurred landscape is flickering past the windows, it is hard to imagine how quickly everything can go wrong. But about 50,000 commuters and Amtrak riders learned the hard way Thursday morning. When the electricity suddenly went out along Amtrak lines from New York City to Maryland, riders were stuck for hours, some stranded in steamy passenger cars, some stalled in “creepy” underwater tunnels. For most of these travelers, it was an infuriating and frustrating experience. But if their reaction is to shake a fist angrily at Amtrak, there is a far bigger culprit in the nation’s capital.
Although it’s not clear exactly what went wrong with the system, the underpinnings of the nation’s railroad system are primed for disaster. The White House and Congress have tried to squeeze every dollar out of Amtrak’s meager budget. To survive, the nation’s passenger railroad has cut service and raised ticket prices. But what really frightens the rail experts is how little federal money has been available to update the railroad’s aging infrastructure. One inspector general for the Department of Transportation warned that the budget for basic maintenance and improvements was so low that Congress and the White House were playing “Russian roulette” with the welfare of millions of riders across the country.
Amtrak would need at least $2 billion a year to bring the system to a state of good repair, according to the department’s analysts. For the Northeast Corridor, where some parts go back to the 1930’s, it would take a total of about $4 billion. So far, Congress and the White House have agreed to hand over a scant $600 million a year for all capital programs on passenger rails from coast to coast.
Washington power brokers like to say that Amtrak is mismanaged, but calling for better management of a system where the wires and steel are eroding is simply dodging the question. It is time to drop the old bromides and recognize that for the United States to be an advanced nation with a mobile work force, the American government needs to maintain a clean, efficient national railroad. Amtrak does not need to make a profit, but it does need to work. The government directs billions of dollars to roads and bridges. Airports get plenty of help, but somehow very little trickles down to the rails.
Amtrak, which at one point was to have received zero federal funds after 2002, has been offered $900 million by the administration for next year. That amount is so low it should be an insult. But Amtrak officials have timidly stayed within the ballpark and asked for a modest $1.6 billion. Even that is just enough money to allow Amtrak to fail more slowly.
If President Bush really wants transportation alternatives, it is time for a strategic look at how the railroads can serve as an even more important escape valve for the nation’s overloaded transportation system.