(The following editorial was posted on the San Antonio Express-News website on February 17.)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The Bush administration has been trying to kill the nation’s passenger rail system by the inch for some time.
This year, the effort to exterminate Amtrak is out in the open, with the president’s budget recommending zero funding for 2006.
That would end intercity passenger rail service for Americans. Amtrak runs through 46 states.
Once again, it will be up to Congress to head off the massacre. That has happened before. When the president requested $900 million for 2005, Congress appropriated $1.2 billion.
The administration argues that Amtrak was created to operate without a government subsidy. That goal always was unrealistic, with the U.S. government subsidizing both highway and air transportation, as do most governments worldwide.
To kill one leg of the nation’s transportation system would be folly. Remember the importance of rail service in the days after 9-11 when the nation’s airlines were shut down?
In the past two years, even given the lack of support and the problems Amtrak has faced, its ridership has continued to grow.
According to the National Association of Railroad Passengers, Amtrak had a record ridership of 24 million in 2003, followed by a 4.3 percent increase to 25.1 million in 2004, setting a record.
Imagine what the nation’s rail system could be if it were funded properly rather than bled annually.
A long and valiant defender of a national passenger rail system has been Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. She has vowed to continue the fight, which is important for Texas. This state stands to lose both the Texas Eagle, which travels north from San Antonio to Fort Worth, Dallas and through East Texas to Chicago, and the Sunset Limited, which passes through San Antonio on its trips between California and Florida.
As the national system continues to decline, plagued by neglect of maintenance and infrastructure, only the high-speed trains in the northeast corridor interest many in Washington.
This sad story is a case of misplaced priorities, a classic case of penny-wise and pound-foolish policy. Hutchison is to be commended for her determination to save the rail system. Others should follow her lead.