(The following article by Pia Sarkar was posted on the San Francisco Chronicle website on February 25.)
SAN FRANCISCO — With the Bush administration seeking to cut off federal subsidies to Amtrak in its proposed budget, passengers and rail officials are fretting over the future of train service across the country.
In California, the move could mean a loss of service to as many as 9.3 million passengers who use the trains annually, as well as undermine economies that have been built around the stations.
“(Amtrak) is very important to us,” said Pat O’Keefe, director of economic development in Emeryville, home to Amtrak’s busiest hub in Northern California, which has spurred office and residential development in the area since opening 10 years ago. “We know that people are using it.”
Federal subsidies account for $1.2 billion of Amtrak’s overall budget of $3 billion this fiscal year. Without it, the company — already saddled with $3.8 billion in debt — would be forced into bankruptcy, leaving courts to decide how to restructure it.
“We cannot save intercity passenger rail service by burying our heads in the sand and simply shoveling more money into a system that cannot help but fail,” said Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta after a tour through train stations in North Carolina earlier this week.
David Laney, chairman of Amtrak’s board of directors, cautioned against any drastic action. In a letter to Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., last week, he said that although the need for reform is great, “the threat of insolvency or bankruptcy can undermine the stability of any business; in Amtrak’s case, the disruption of the financial and operating stability Amtrak has achieved over the last two years could stop our reform effort in its tracks.”
Amtrak has been marred in financial troubles for years. In May 2002, David Gunn took over as Amtrak’s president and chief executive officer, inheriting a projected cash shortfall of more than $200 million and no credit. The company was bailed out with a $205 million supplemental appropriation and a $100 million loan from the Department of Transportation to support capital spending.
Since then, Amtrak has laid off workers, eliminated its mail and express business and delayed some capital improvements.
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black would not comment on the Bush administration’s proposed cuts, but he pointed to the rising number of passengers in recent years. Overall ridership reached a record high in fiscal 2004, totaling an estimated 25 million passengers — a 4.3 percent increase over ridership in fiscal 2003.
Ridership continued to climb in the past quarter, totaling 6.5 million. That represents a 2.6 percent increase from 6.3 million during the same period a year ago.
“More people are riding Amtrak than ever before,” Black said.
California has the second-highest ridership in the country, behind New York. Amtrak operates an average of 70 intercity trains and more than 200 commuter trains per day throughout the state. Three of the company’s five busiest routes in the country are in California.
The Pacific Surfliner from Paso Robles to San Diego ranks second in the nation. The Capitol Corridor service from Sacramento to San Jose is third, and the Central Valley’s San Joaquins that run from Oakland and Sacramento to Bakersfield rank fifth.
Dwayne Green, 46, takes the train from his home in Oregon to his job at the Santa Clara County Corrections Center every two weeks. He packs a book, a pillow and snacks for his 12-hour journey, which he prefers to the seven-hour trip by car.
“It’s cheap, and I go at night so I can sleep,” said Green, who was seated in the waiting area of the Emeryville Amtrak station one recent morning. “My wife likes the comfort of knowing I’m safe.”
Eugene Skoropowski is managing director of the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, an eight-county authority in charge of overseeing the 170- mile intercity rail corridor stretching from Santa Clara County to Placer County. He said that although California’s passenger rail service is mostly supported by state funding, it is dependent on Amtrak for staffing, including train engineers, station agents, conductors, food service attendants, telephone operators and customer service representatives. Amtrak also provides personnel for train and track maintenance, as well as access to freight lines.
“California has a lot at stake in the survival of Amtrak,” Skoropowski said.
Elimination of federal subsidies would mean that states would have to financially support their railway systems. California has traditionally been able to raise enough funds to cover its expenses as well as pay for capital improvements, but because of its deficit, the state is hardly in a position to dole out more money.
Some worry that even largely self-sufficient states will run into problems when trains travel into states that cannot afford to support the rail lines. Amtrak operates four interstate train routes in California.
“Interstate train service should be the responsibility of the federal government,” said Alan Miller, executive director of Train Riders Association of California, an organization of 1,500 people.
Amtrak has come under fire in the past. President Bush proposed $900 million in federal subsidies for the company in his budget last year, far short of the $1.8 billion that Amtrak had requested. Congress increased the subsidy to $1.2 billion.
Skoropowski expressed confidence that Congress will pull through for Amtrak again. “Our California delegation has been very supportive,” he said. “I am optimistic that Congress will do what it’s done in the past.”
Others are not so sure. Richard Silver, executive director of the Rail Passenger Association of California, an organization of 2,500 train riders, said that although Amtrak has a lot of backers, it does not command a lot of attention.
“Virtually everyone in Congress supports Amtrak, but it’s not the first priority,” Silver said. “It’s always in second place. No one’s anti-Amtrak — they just see other things as more important. We just might get shuffled out of the deck.”
For Sydney and Jean Stoner, both avid train riders, the prospect of losing Amtrak is disheartening.
“I would hate to see it cut,” said Stoner, 75, of Medford, Ore., who was traveling with his wife from Klamath Falls, Ore. to San Luis Obispo. “Management has gotten better in the last few years, but right now, it’s just holding its own. They’ve funded it just to get by. I think they do a darn good job with what they have to work with.”