Don't Bankrupt Amtrak

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

It's hard to overstate the irresponsibility of the Bush administration's effort to "zero fund" Amtrak.

We're being told that the 34-year-old national railroad corporation is so bureaucratic and wedded to long-distance routes that perpetually lose money — "running trains that nobody rides between cities nobody wants to travel between," says Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta — that it should be thrown into bankruptcy.

But an abrupt cutoff of federal support, currently $1.2 billion a year?

It's worth remembering that Amtrak, which last year increased its ridership 4.3 percent, to 25 million passengers, plays a critical role in U.S. transportation. Regional and local commuter rail systems are tied closely to it. It's a lifeline for hundreds of cities and smaller towns across 46 states (including many "red" Bush states). Plus, an Amtrak shutdown would be a body blow to the crowded Northeast Corridor (Boston-Washington) — a critical part of the U.S. economy.

News story

 

[Tanner929]

Between 1900 and the 1920's the railroads built huge monuments to themeselves these were so great they were a part of civic pride. Many of these buildings were such pieces of art they stand today even though they are not being used, Buffalo, Detroit others have been refitted for other public use museums apartments restraunts Cinncinnatti. Pittsburgh, Richmond. In other cities there stations have been renovated and cleaned and are still being used as transportation hubs, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Los Angelas Chicago. What keeps these stations thriving, and actually make them crowded are the commuter lines.

The biggest business mistake the Penn and the NYCentral made in building and placing the stations in Detroit and Buffalo was placing them outside of the city and disregarding commuters needs. The designing of the Origional Penn Station in New York was all geared for the long distance travel the space for the Long Island and New Jersey commuters where very utilitarian. The "New Penn Station" today is much to small because of the abundence of commuters from the Long Island and PATH railroads. What is the future of Long Distance travel? In areas where the train travels thru once a day often in the dead of the night who are the riders and what dent does it make on the highways and airlines? Again I believe Amtrak needs to divide its systems between heavy traffic areas and the LD's.

The division will give the states and the feds a better idea of the financial operation.

 

[JIM M.]

The previous posting is absolutely correct: Amtrak is a critical part of the nation's transportation system and its economy. The plan to drive it into bankruptcy is simply reckless and irresponsible. We must continue to express our support of Amtrak to our representatives in Congress and to the President's office by mail, e-mail, fax, or telephone. Letters to the editor of newspapers are also effective. The damage done to this nation by an Amtrak bankruptcy would far outweigh the relatively small cost of sustaining Amtrak.

 

[Amtrak Watcher]

Some of you may be old enough to have read about (or even to remember) the enormous role the U.S. government played in the emergence of the passenger airlines. There was, first of all, the cartel formed by the U.S. Post Office among Eastern, American, United, and TWA in the early 1930s (for air mail service) only to be dissolved when Roosevelt took office. The cartel was re-formed only a few years later, under more open circumstances, after more than a dozen Army Air Corps pilots were killed flying mail around the country. The cartel slowly dissolved in the early 1970s as Amtrak was formed from the ashes of the private passenger rail services.

It is interesting to compare the very different ways the U.S. government has regulated passenger rail and air over the years. If we step back and look at the entire history of government regulation of public transportation, we see the U.S. government has never seen public transportation as a single system with highly integrated parts.

 

[Poindexter118]

I agree with you completely. There are cities that Amtrak goes to that is not close to airports, and for people who don't drive or who don't want to drive, this is a vital "lifeline."

Amtrak may not be perfect, but, I like it because I'm tired of the traffic and the morons on the highways.

Recently I took the Coast Starlight from L.A. to Chico CA ( up near Sacramento) and arrived refreshed. The drive can be done in about 8-9 hours, but by the time you're there, you're beat. I took naps, had a nice meal, and watched the scenery go by. The train goes through Vandenberg Air Force base. Cars are not allowed, but the train had a docent on board to give us information on the base. Very interesting.

I have written my congress people to give my "2 cents."

Let's hope it's enough.

 

[Amtrak Watcher]

Beyond the personal preference to avoid the “morons on the highways” and to sustain the needs of travelers who are only conveniently by Amtrak, a viable and robust national passenger rail system is critical for national security. The attacks of 9/11 clearly demonstrated how vulnerable we are to disruptions in our transportation infrastructure. Our vulnerability comes from the lack of diversity in our transportation system: we are too dependent on the airlines. Our highways are our only backup, but our “backup” is a slave to the oil producers who would, for the most part, like to see us all killed. The next time we are attacked –and everyone agrees it’s not IF there is a next time, but WHEN that time comes– I’m afraid the lack of diversity will crush our economy. Ideally, we should strive to be more like, for example, Europe. The entire airline structure in Europe could completely collapse, but the rails could probably hold the economy together until it could be rebuilt. We have no such luxury here.

Our overall problem seems to be a national reluctance to make long-range plans (the controversies over Social Security and Medicare are more examples), and to plan our infrastructure elements as parts of complex systems (the on-going lack of an energy policy is another example.) Worse, outside of the NEC, congress seems to see Amtrak as only a tribute to nostalgia.

I would like to see Amtrak’s charter changed to force it to build a nationwide, parallel network approaching the coverage of the key airline routes and the Interstate highways. I would like to see this justified as a matter of national security. This should be accomplished along with conservation and developing alternative energy sources outside areas hostile to us.

Funding could come from finally aligning our resources with our critical needs; cutting a third of the yearly pork from the non-sense in the budget could pay for everything. Sadly, it will never happen. Our present situation reads too much like the last years of the Roman Empire.