(The following editorial by Chip Jones was posted on the Richman Times-Dispatch website on July 19.)
RICHMOND, Va. — Amtrak gave Virginia a solid “B” recently for efforts to upgrade rail service.
David Gunn, president of the Washington-based passenger railroad, gave the Richmond-Washington rail corridor a Tier 2 ranking – the equivalent of a “B.”
Virginia needs two things to get an “A,” according to Amtrak and state rail officials:
A long-term funding source for adding rail service and an agreement with the owner of the tracks – CSX Corp., the freight railroad – to finally start some long-planned improvements.
The contract with CSX to launch $65 million worth of state-funded improvements has been in the works for a long time, said Karen Rae, director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
“We’ve been pushing for the last couple of months to get it signed,” she said last week.
On Friday, Rae said CSX finally sent her the signed document. Now Virginia has the green light to start engineering and construction work along the 100-mile-long rail corridor between Richmond and Washington.
Amtrak passenger trains run along the freight-train tracks, so any improvements should help boost train speeds and overall service. Improving the rail corridor is a key factor in realizing the potential of Main Street Station in downtown Richmond. The historic station in Shockoe Bottom reopened in December as part of a $51.6 million renovation.
So far, though, it has been limited to regional train service between Newport News and Washington.
The other missing factor for Virginia’s passenger rail service – at least in Amtrak’s view – is a commitment for the long haul.
The states or regions getting “A’s” are underwriting passenger rail, whether it’s done by Amtrak, which is federally funded, or by other rail companies.
Among the eight top-ranked rail corridors is Raleigh-Charlotte, which receives plenty of state funding.
One of North Carolina’s partners has been Norfolk Southern Corp., which endorsed Amtrak’s recent five-year plan. CSX did not endorse it.
“Those states have committed to cover any operating deficits that would be the result of new service,” said Drew Galloway, a senior director in Amtrak’s strategic-planning department.
This includes a promise to cover operating deficits if new service is started and to provide matching funds for capital improvements.
Railroads don’t come cheap, but neither does any part of the nation’s transportation system, Amtrak’s Gunn said in a statement in late June.
Freight railroads, including CSX, have had operating problems of their own.
“If the railroads are having trouble carrying the business they have today, their ability to meet the growth they are projecting is totally unrealistic,” Gunn said.
“Unless the railroads can earn their cost of capital, they are going to squeeze the rail network and it will break.”
Meanwhile, Gunn said, “we are pouring billions of public money into highways and other transportation modes, yet highways are increasingly congested as well.”
Amtrak’s chief concluded, “It doesn’t make sense. We need some balance in our priorities and in our investments, and federal leadership to make that happen.”
He released a five-year strategic plan calling for federal funding averaging about $1.6 billion per year – an increase from the current $1.21 billion funding level for fiscal 2004 ending Sept. 30.
Without more federal support, he warned, “we risk losing a significant portion of the rail network.”
Richmonders need look no farther than the sprawling Acca Yard for proof of his argument. Over the years, the yard has become a major bottleneck for freight and passenger traffic alike. Rae has compared Acca – alongside Interstate 64 near its junction with Interstate 195 – to the “The Mixing Bowl,” the legendary highway mess in Springfield.
Plenty of other rail lines have either been neglected or abandoned, making it harder, and more expensive, to keep trains rolling on time.
These tough issues are expected to be discussed today at a meeting of the Governor’s Commission on Rail Enhancement for the 21st Century.
Rae said the eight-member group appointed by Gov. Mark R. Warner should have plenty to talk about at its first meeting.
“We will be dealing with the question of how we going to aggressively advance rail funding in the commonwealth,” she said.
Amtrak’s report card should give them a place to start.