(The Southern Illinoisan published the following editorial on its website on August 6.)
CARBONDALE, Ill. — For 33 years Amtrak has been running through a tunnel with no light at the end of it in sight. The publicly subsidized corporation and has long been a financial train wreck, losing more than $1 billion last year alone.
Congress has made attempts in the past to set it on the right track, but those failed. Now the Bush administration believes it has the answer — let states and the private sector tow the load.
The administration wants to wean Amtrak from federal backing which last year amounted to more than $1.2 billion. It has earmarked $900 million to fund the rail passenger service next year — half of what Amtrak says it needs to operate — and wants states to form regional compacts and partner with the private sector to run the routes.
Proponents say the revamping has been a long time coming and should streamline an operation which taxpayers have funded to the tune of $26.6 billion since 1970.
They say the proposal would improve service and create regional lines of high speed passenger service between major cities. States would share the onus of forming these compacts. They could prove problematic as most states, including Illinois, are suffering financially and don’t have the resources to put into such a venture.
Opponents argue that plan, while grand in vision, is vague on specifics and will result in a derailment of Amtrak. They offered an alternative plan that provides Amtrak with $12 billion in operating funds over six years and $48 billion in federally-supported bonds for capital improvements.
Southern Illinois has a particular interest in the fate of Amtrak. The region is served by two of the Amtrak’s lines — the Illini and City of New Orleans. Amtrak is one of the few low-cost options people in this region have for traveling north or south. Many Amtrak riders don’t have the means to pay for more expensive forms of travel. Students at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, in particular, rely on the service to get them here and home.
Last fiscal year nearly 55,000 passengers boarded or got off in Carbondale. The Illini line — which runs from Carbondale to Chicago served 92,000 people in total and the City of New Orleans — running from Chicago to New Orleans — transported about 159,000 passengers.
Whether or not these volumes would be profitable for a private interest is the question. It’s likely they wouldn’t be. More appealing to them would be linking Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis which would attract higher passenger counts. Rural areas such as Southern Illinois could lose out.
Adding to the challenge of regionalizing passenger service is the fact that Amtrak has exclusive contracts with freight railroads that own the tracks to run through multi-states. Regional lines would have to forge new agreements with freight haulers that may resist entering contracts with multiple passenger service entities.
No one disputes that Amtrak has been a financial failure and that something needs to be done to fix it. By offering only half the funding needed to operate next year, the Bush administration is forcing the issue to the forefront. The administration has indicated, though, it might add an additional $500 million if it sees Congress is serious about reforming the system. And efficiencies can surely be made.
Congress must determine whether lower volume, unprofitable rural lines such as those serving Southern Illinois should be discontinued in the name of streamlining, or should government be obligated to continue to provide this form of travel service for areas with few options, even if it loses money in doing so.
In the broad scope of things, Amtrak’s price tag may be a bitter pill that we should keep swallowing.