(The following story by Josh O’Gorman appeared on the Times Argus website on November 15, 2009.)
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont’s two passenger train routes lost $31 and $52 per passenger in 2008, according to a recently released study that raises the question of whether rail travel should be publicly subsidized.
According to the study by Subsidyscope, an initiative by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ethan Allen Express, which runs between Rutland and Albany, N.Y., cost $300,000 more than it made last year. The Vermonter, running between St. Albans and Washington, D.C., via Montpelier and White River Junction, lost $2 million during the same period.
Nationwide, 41 of Amtrak’s 44 lines operated at a loss in 2008, taking into account expenses such as depreciation.
The Ethan Allen Express took in $3.7 million in revenue from 46,881 riders in 2008, a deficit of $31 per rider, while the Vermonter generated $6.9 million from 72,655 riders, losing $52 per person. According to Pew, Amtrak received $1.3 billion from taxpayers; in Vermont, that meant about $4.8 million in state support.
“The rail service exists in a competitive environment, where people can drive or even fly,” said Christopher Parker, executive director of the Vermont Rail Action Network. “Airports are heavily subsidized and highways too, and as a society we’ve chosen to subsidize them, and trains need to be subsidized too.”
Parker pointed to Rutland Southern Vermont Regional Airport, where Cape Air received nearly $900,000 a year in federal support to connect passengers to Boston.
“Rail service should not be treated any differently than roads, bridges and air (travel). It’s an essential part of transportation in this country,” said Tom Donahue, executive director of the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce, noting the value of the Ethan Allen Express, which brought 19,000 people to Rutland last year.
Bruce Richardson, president of the policy institute United Passenger Rail Alliance, rejected the notion that it is acceptable for Amtrak to run at a loss.
“That is just an excuse Amtrak came up with a few years ago and everybody who loves trains has adopted,” Richardson said. “It just enables Amtrak and lets them get away with poor marketing and poor management.”
Overall, Amtrak lost $32 per passenger for its nearly 29 million passengers in 2008, according to the Pew study.
The least profitable run, between New Orleans and Los Angeles, lost $462 per rider, while the Acela Express between Boston and Washington, D.C., was the most profitable at $41 per rider, according to the study.
But Richardson gave little weight to the Pew study, calling it “pretty close to worthless.” He said the losses the study points to aren’t based upon the cost to run the trains, but are from corporate and reservation center costs. He suggested Vermont should market its rail lines as other states do, such as California and North Carolina.
Amtrak officials declined to be interviewed or answer written questions for this story, but in a statement said the company is losing less money per rider than in years past.
“Amtrak’s ‘loss per passenger’ including depreciation has been cut by about a third in recent years, decreasing by 31 percent since FY 2003. Amtrak has seen steady growth in ridership in recent years from 21.6 million passengers in FY 2002 to 27.2 million in FY 2009, with an all-time record 28.7 million in FY 2008. Amtrak strives to provide excellent service at a reasonable cost to passengers and taxpayers,” read a portion of the statement.
Parker and Donahue agreed that extending the Ethan Allen line from Rutland to Burlington would draw more riders by connecting Burlington to New York, and from there any of Amtrak’s 500 destinations nationwide. The track already exists, allowing freight trains to travel 25 mph, but needs to be upgraded to meet national standards.
“It’s not that far between Rutland and Burlington, and the addition of ridership would be significant,” Parker said.
“We clearly see the future as connecting to Burlington, and we believe ridership would increase exponentially,” said Donahue, whose organization prominently posts a link to Amtrak on its Web site.
For rail advocates, the public support is justified.
“Being connected is important for survival,” Donahue said. “If we’re trying to attract not just tourists but businesses, we need to show that we are connected to the rest of the world or they’re going to go somewhere else.”
“Lately, as a society, there’s been a lot of focus on taxes, but it costs a lot of money to buy things and run things that are good for society,” Parker said.