(The Longview News-Journal published the following story by James Draper on its website on August 3.)
LONGIVEW, Texas — Planes, trains and automobiles deserve equal opportunities nationwide, says U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
Amtrak specifically deserves opportunities, Hutchison said Saturday at the company’s Longview station at 905 Pacific Ave.
With the exception of the Northeast Corridor, the passenger rail system has been neglected for more than 30 years, she said, when it should be “national or nothing” for Amtrak expansion.
“I don’t think we have given it the equal treatment that we give other modes of transportation in our country,” Hutchison said, adding that the neglect in the South keeps residents from enjoying the benefits of more travel and transportation options.
Hutchison is chairwoman of the Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Amtrak is under the committee’s jurisdiction, and earlier this week Hutchison and three other senators introduced the American Rail Equity Act to overhaul the rail company.
“My bill will provide resources to make it faster, more efficient and run on time,” Hutchison said in a prepared statement.
“We will build a national rail system for success, not failure.”
Hutchison says in the Northeast Corridor, which runs from Washington, D.C., to Boston, passengers can expect trains to arrive on time, while in the South, Amtrak’s trains are late 80 percent of the time.
That isn’t acceptable, Hutchison said.
Her bill, co-sponsored by three other senators, will provide $12 billion to Amtrak over six years to turn the southern system around and get 80 percent of the trains into the stations on time.
“We’re going to try to cure the patient and make it healthy again,” Hutchison said.
County Judge Bill Stoudt welcomed Hutchison to Gregg County and said AREA represents a great opportunity for Longview and for Gregg County as a whole.
“It will create an additional tool in the toolbox in terms of economic development,” Stoudt said. “We can be a regional hub for everyone.”