(The following article by Caleb Hale was postedon the Southern Illinoisian website on June 6.)
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS — The U.S. transportation department’s call for an immediate cut to operations in the Amtrak passenger rail company has U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, crying foul.
Durbin said Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta’s suggestion the department may not release $60 million in reserve funds already set aside for Amtrak, because he is concerned the company may end up $40 million in debt before Sept. 30, is an about-face from the previous decision made by President George W. Bush’s administration.
“The fact is the transportation secretary reversed the administration’s position on funding,” Durbin said.
In a letter issued to Amtrak President David L. Gunn in May, Mineta urged the rail line to immediately cut costs to avoid going into debt. Gunn had testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee that he expected Amtrak to end its fiscal year with a $20 million positive cash flow.
Mineta stated he is concerned that positive cash flow may take into account the $60 million in reserve funds, which he claimed was not intended to be released to help the company make ends meet.
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However, the transportation department's representative on the Amtrak board of directors has indicated the company should
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receive the $60 million before the end of the fiscal year, as long as it could maintain a positive cash balance otherwise.
The signals may be mixed, but Durbin said the transportation department is sending a clear message it no longer wants to support Amtrak, which is the only passenger rail system in the country.
"The administration is determined to take the millions of Amtrak riders and put them into cars on highways already crowded with traffic that produces even more air pollution," Durbin said.
He added Amtrak is having problems in the first place due to the federal government's chronic underfunding of the system. If the federal government expects a stable railroad industry, Durbin said, it will have to help it out.
"You can't have it both ways," he added.
Amtrak runs passenger trains between Carbondale and Chicago, and south to New Orleans, on a daily basis. The service is popular among Southern Illinois University Carbondale students from the northern part of the state, as well as business travelers.
Durbin said what the administration is doing puts Illinois' train service in jeopardy. The state contributes roughly $12 million a year for the infrastructure to run Amtrak trains.
"It's a direct threat to Amtrak service, and I hope Illinois can survive it," Durbin said.