(The Boston Globe posted the following Reuters story by John Crawley on its website on June 30.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Northeastern states and freight railroads are resisting a Bush administration proposal to dismantle Amtrak, worried the change would strain finances and make city-to-city passenger rail less efficient.
Administration officials have been pressed about the impact of a plan to give states authority over routes and the final say on who would run trains. Amtrak’s flagship Northeast Corridor service runs between Washington and Boston.
Under a rail initiative to be submitted to Congress soon, financially troubled Amtrak would become an operating company that would compete for business. Its responsibility for maintaining tracks and other infrastructure would be transferred over time to a federal-state compact under which states would pay half the capital costs.
While states elsewhere are trying to develop rail and might welcome a 50-50 split, governments in the congested Northeast say they have their hands full.
Most states in the region pay little or nothing for Amtrak service. Several, however, oversee or run commuter rail lines that invest in construction projects that benefit Amtrak.
”It certainly can’t be run more efficiently by the states. That’s just nonsense,” said Nathan Hayward, Delaware’s transportation secretary. ”We’re not in a position to accept any new responsibility, but even if we were, that would be the last model I would look to.”
Allan Rutter, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, said he is trying to ease concerns about the plans for 32-year-old Amtrak, which survives on government subsidies. ”Any time you’re going to change from something known to unknown, that is going to cause a great deal of anxiety. I think once we… show how the system is going to work and how things are going to be managed, some of that anxiety will dissipate.”
While Northeast states worry about added responsibility and costs, commuter and freight rail fear the change will hurt rail safety and diminish efficiency.