(The following editorial appeared on the Des Moines Register website on November 8.)
DES MOINES, Iowa — Fans of railroad passenger service have long maintained an abiding faith that one day train travel will return to favor. There are some glimmers of evidence that might finally happen.
The most important sign: The congressional takeover by Democrats has apparently derailed that body’s contempt for Amtrak, the federally subsidized rail passenger service. Whereas Republicans for the past decade insisted that Amtrak show progress toward becoming profitable or lose funding, the Democrats have taken the approach that the service should be judged on the quality of its service. That means pumping more public money into Amtrak, which has struggled with aging equipment running on poor track.
In that spirit, the Senate last week approved by a 77-22 vote a six-year, $11.4 billion funding bill, an increase of $700 million per year. Most of that money would be directed toward operations and capital investment, but a big chunk would go toward paying off Amtrak’s debt, which it has taken on to make up for shortages in federal aid. The House is scheduled to take up a similar Amtrak funding package early next year.
The House should follow suit. If rail passenger service has any hope of reaching its potential in this nation, it must be able to offer reliable service that is competitively priced. That is difficult to do with the rag-tag collection of equipment, poor track conditions and delays caused when freight trains elbow aside passenger service.
Still, Amtrak ridership has increased – up 6.3 percent nationally in the last fiscal year for which figures are available, and even more in high-traffic corridors. Though Iowa ridership was flat at approximately 61,400 boardings/alightings at the state’s six stations, usage and interest in passenger rail service have been increasing here in recent years.
This is a good time for Congress to rethink its philosophy on passenger railroads. With gas prices on the rise, highways and freeways reaching gridlock, airline passengers finding the skies increasingly unfriendly and global-warming concerns growing, maybe taking the train should once again be a realistic alternative in this country.