Gardners statement on House budget proposal

[Amtrakfflyer]

Statement from Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner on the House FY24 Transportation Appropriations Bill - Amtrak Media

"The funding levels proposed in the House FY24 transportation appropriations bill for Amtrak and FRA rail programs will stop the advancement of passenger

media.amtrak.com

Republican 2024 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Funding Bill Threatens the Safety and Reliability of Our Roads, Railways, and Housing Across America

House Appropriations Committee Republicans today released the draft fiscal year 2024 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies funding bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation makes traveling less safe, ignores low-income families...

democrats-appropriations.house.gov

• Guts rail infrastructure programs, including a 64 percent reduction to Amtrak, with a majority of the cut to the Northeast Corridor (NEC), which would result in the elimination of service on certain routes, delays to station improvements to comply with ADA, and furloughing its workforce;
  • Funding for the NEC has been cut by 92 percent, from $1.3 billion to $99 million.
  • Funding for the National Network has been cut by 35 percent, from $1.2 billion to $776 million.
  • Eliminates the Federal-state Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail program and cuts the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement program in half, kicking the can down the road on major safety improvements for passenger and freight rail at a time when investments should be prioritized for strengthening our rail network and the safety of our rail workers.

 

[Acela150]

Folks, as always this is a PROPOSAL! While it’s not surprise that the GOP has aimed at Amtrak as they have in the past the chances of this becoming law are 0 if the past is any indication.

 

[jis]

Folks, as always this is a PROPOSAL! While it’s not surprise that the GOP has aimed at Amtrak as they have in the past the chances of this becoming law are 0 if the past is any indication.

Yup. Nothing that is out of the ordinary.

Just keep writing your legislators further educating them about the importance of passenger rail and Amtrak. Thank our stars that this time it is not complete zero out Stockman style We lived through that too.

 

[AmtrakFlyer]

“ Thank our stars that this time it is not complete zero out Stockman style”

Exactly!

 

[lordsigma]

Yes if you look at this along with many other of the bill's provisions its basically an ideological posturing bill that has absolutely zero chance of being the final product. No issues really with Gardner's commentary - this proposal is a joke, would decimate Amtrak if it passed, and warrants the criticism and ridicule.

 

[zephyr17]

The annual ritual begin agains.

 

[nferr]

As usual the Republican led House of Representatives begins its funding proposals by cutting Amtraks annual operating budget in half.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

While it’s not surprise that the GOP has aimed at Amtrak as they have in the past the chances of this becoming law are 0 if the past is any indication.

+​

Yes if you look at this along with many other of the bill's provisions its basically an ideological posturing bill that has absolutely zero chance of being the final product.

Removing one leg of a stool is not enough to drop you to the floor but it does get you one step closer to disaster.

 

[Bembidion]

As usual the Republican led House of Representatives begins its funding proposals by cutting Amtraks annual operating budget in half.

It really annoys me that often Republicans do such idiotic posturing when it comes to passenger rail and I say this as a conservative. Though to be fair, pro/anti Amtrak sentiment isn't necessarily confined to one party. They don't mind throwing tons of money at airlines and highways, with what is essentially corporate welfare. Hope I'm not being too political here.

 

[Amtrak25]

Amtrak's own self-destruction, rhetoric, and actions are partly responsible:

1. Ongoing gloating that the NEC as profitable (so why subsidize it) ? while running the national network into the ground since 2018, way before Covid,
2. Still granting the national network nearly 8 times the funding of the NEC,
3. Installing NEC Democratic poltical hacks and ex-Congressional staffer as CEO and on the Board, sanctioned by Senate Leader Schumer, causing a freeze on Board appointments by Tester (D) and Cruz (R) unless balance board appointments are offered.
4. Coscia on 6/21/2023: "We believe that the map for Amtrak needs to be redrawn to reflect what the population of the United States looks like in 2023, and not what it looked like in 1971 when Amtrak inherited assets from defunct railroads. So, we think there is an enormous amount of opportunity that is driven by demand. In order to achieve that level of service we will need a number of things to happen." OK, so be it. The NEC has been losing House seats/proportionate population for 50 years, and nobody cares what Coscia and Gardner believe anyway. So run miniscule LD consists while dozens of LD cars are in storage or in corridor service so that there is no supply to respond to demand on trains running through God's country. If sleepers are sold out months in advance, jack up the fares to $5,000.

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

It really annoys me that often Republicans do such idiotic posturing when it comes to passenger rail and I say this as a conservative. Though to be fair, pro/anti Amtrak sentiment isn't necessarily confined to one party. They don't mind throwing tons of money at airlines and highways, with what is essentially corporate welfare. Hope I'm not being too political here.

Let's face it, if you are a conservative legislator to look for things to cut there isn't much low hanging fruit that isn't protected by some strong lobby. Pretty much any social program is a 3rd rail that you touch at your own risk. Passenger rail has only the RPA and local pro passenger groups. Even the railroads are at best indifferent and would generally be happy if Amtrak just withered away. Such is the political reality.

 

[TransitTyrant]

Amtrak's own self-destruction, rhetoric, and actions are partly responsible:

1. Ongoing gloating that the NEC as profitable (so why subsidize it) ? while running the national network into the ground since 2018, way before Covid,
2. Still granting the national network nearly 8 times the funding of the NEC,
3. Installing NEC Democratic poltical hacks and ex-Congressional staffer as CEO and on the Board, sanctioned by Senate Leader Schumer, causing a freeze on Board appointments by Tester (D) and Cruz (R) unless balance board appointments are offered.
4. Coscia on 6/21/2023: "We believe that the map for Amtrak needs to be redrawn to reflect what the population of the United States looks like in 2023, and not what it looked like in 1971 when Amtrak inherited assets from defunct railroads. So, we think there is an enormous amount of opportunity that is driven by demand. In order to achieve that level of service we will need a number of things to happen." OK, so be it. The NEC has been losing House seats/proportionate population for 50 years, and nobody cares what Coscia and Gardner believe anyway. So run miniscule LD costs while dozens of LD cars are in storage or in corridor service so that there is no supply to respond to demand on trains running through God's country. If sleepers are sold out months in advance, jack up the fares to $5,000.

Except Amtrak is not self destructing, this post is pure hyperbole.

 

[Exvalley]

I hate to say this, but part of me thinks that we need to completely revamp Amtrak.

Outside of some very select corridors, our rail system is a complete embarrassment. The biggest advantage of rail, at this point in time, is to combat global warming and get cars off the road and people out of airplanes. Spending countless dollars on multi-day land cruises is not the way to tackle this crisis. I would much rather see the money spent on corridors that can make a real difference, focusing on trips of 2-6 hours in duration between large metropolitan centers. Electrify these lines and make the track reliably fast.

This is where the dollars should be spent. (As much as it pains me to admit it.)

 

[Amtrak25]

Nothing I side is untrue.

Reauthorization language was put there due to Board discussions, gotten via FOIA requests and Anderson's big mouth stating in 2018 he would throw away all LD routes, except for 5, segmenting or outright killing all the rest, and they had a term for it "National Network 2.0".

There is no budget or Congressional request to tell them so. That was pure self-destruction.

 

[Amtrak25]

I hate to say this, but part of me thinks that we need to completely revamp Amtrak.

Outside of some very select corridors, our rail system is a complete embarrassment. The biggest advantage of rail, at this point in time, is to combat global warming and get cars off the road and people out of airplanes. Spending countless dollars and multi-day land cruises is not the way to tackle this crisis. I would much rather see the money spent on corridors that can make a real difference, focusing on trips of 2-6 hours in duration between large metropolitan centers. Electrify these lines and make the track reliably fast.

This is where the dollars should be spent. (As much as it pains me to admit it.)

I think the Lincoln and Wolverine corridors are still an embarrassment, especially after the billions we threw at them.

Amrak was created and runs for transportation, long and short distance. Boston - Newport News and Roanoke - New York are land cruises. Shall we segment that into tidy, multiple 250 mile train trips ?

Nobody rides Amtrak to combat global warming and nobody is going to electrify anything.

 

[lordsigma]

Amtrak's own self-destruction, rhetoric, and actions are partly responsible:

1. Ongoing gloating that the NEC as profitable (so why subsidize it) ? while running the national network into the ground since 2018, way before Covid,
2. Still granting the national network nearly 8 times the funding of the NEC,
3. Installing NEC Democratic poltical hacks and ex-Congressional staffer as CEO and on the Board, sanctioned by Senate Leader Schumer, causing a freeze on Board appointments by Tester (D) and Cruz (R) unless balance board appointments are offered.
4. Coscia on 6/21/2023: "We believe that the map for Amtrak needs to be redrawn to reflect what the population of the United States looks like in 2023, and not what it looked like in 1971 when Amtrak inherited assets from defunct railroads. So, we think there is an enormous amount of opportunity that is driven by demand. In order to achieve that level of service we will need a number of things to happen." OK, so be it. The NEC has been losing House seats/proportionate population for 50 years, and nobody cares what Coscia and Gardner believe anyway. So run miniscule LD costs while dozens of LD cars are in storage or in corridor service so that there is no supply to respond to demand on trains running through God's country. If sleepers are sold out months in advance, jack up the fares to $5,000.

I doubt Amtrak operations or decisions have anything to do with it and I would suspect that some of these reps probably don't even know what the Capitol Limited or Texas Eagle is let alone the consist size. Its just partisan sticking it to the blue states. The bill is loaded with several other cuts that stick it to democratic states that rely on federal funding - in addition to Amtrak it absolutely decimates transit. While there is still funding for the national network the 35% cut would still devastate it and likely result in tri weekly long distance and state supported cuts everywhere. I think one should separate criticism for Amtrak's handling of its internal affairs from this issue - one has nothing to do with the other. This is pure partisan politics steered by think tanks like Heritage. The targeting of the NEC is because it primarily serves blue states and has nothing to do with consists on long distance trains or anything Gardner, Anderson, or Coscia has done. The only thing I could think of that might give them some ammunition is the bonus stuff but ironically it was actually government auditors and Congress itself that actually directed Amtrak to move from management pensions to a bonus program. That doesn't mean that the Amtrak internal issues don't matter or aren't important - but I do feel they're really irrelevant to this. They even give the reason they are cutting Amtrak in their summary - because it is "supported and overfunded by Democrats." There is no other reason - this is just ideological sabre rattling. There is nothing in this proposal that passenger rail advocates should look at as a positive development - its an embarrassment.

 

[Exvalley]

Nobody rides Amtrak to combat global warming and nobody is going to electrify anything.

That needs to change.

A friend of mine just booked a train ticket from Paris to Barcelona. The train takes 6.5 hours with 10 stops. Driving takes over 10 hours. While they would not have driven, they would have flown.

 

[TransitTyrant]

Nothing I side is untrue.

Reauthorization language was put there due to Board discussions, gotten via FOIA requests and Anderson's big mouth stating in 2018 he would throw away all LD routes, except for 5, segmenting or outright killing all the rest, and they had a term for it "Natioal Network 2.0".

There is no budget or Congressional request to tell them so. That was pure self-destruction.

Still talking about conspiracies from 2018, what’s next? Southwest Airlines holding back 110mph speed on the Lincoln Service?

 

[Amtrak25]

Still talking about conspiracies from 2018, what’s next? Southwest Airlines holding back 110mph speed on the Lincoln Service?

No, I'm still talking about facts from Board minutes.

 

[lordsigma]

Implying that some of Amtrak's follies since 2018 that advocates have, rightly, opposed played any role in how this was framed is assigning far too much credibility and thoughtfulness to the drafters of this proposal when there was likely nothing more than sticking it to Biden and Democrats in mind. There is no reason to celebrate the number that was given to the national network because its 8x higher than the NEC - its still a huge cut to the network and would probably ultimately result in its end. The essential end result of this if it passed would probably be to unlock and reassign IIJA guaranteed funds to replace the funds they are cutting here that would normally have been provided by the annual appropriation which as Gardner implied would result in deferring and canceling the long term capital programs they planned to fund with the IIJA funds - likely including any new equipment/heavy rebuilds for long distance trains. The IIJA funds would have to be used for routine operational and capital costs. Again - there is nothing good about this. Its basically an indirect repealing and clawing back of the rail portions of the IIJA.

 

[TransitTyrant]

I think the Lincoln and Wolverine corridors are still an embarrassment, especially after the billions we threw at them.

Amrak was created and runs for transportation, long and short distance. Boston - Newport News and Roanoke - New York are land cruises. Shall we segment that into tidy, multiple 250 mile train trips ?

Nobody rides Amtrak to combat global warming and nobody is going to electrify anything.

We haven’t thrown billions at the Wolverine, that corridor gets a few million a year from grants to complete all the work planned. If anything the money is too small and spread out over too many years.

As a regular Lincoln Service rider I can say you’re wrong about that route too. Plus work isn’t done, the ultimate goal is a fully double tracked route restoration with 10+ trains a days. The only disappointing part was how long it took.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I think the Lincoln and Wolverine corridors are still an embarrassment, especially after the billions we threw at them.

Amrak was created and runs for transportation, long and short distance. Boston - Newport News and Roanoke - New York are land cruises. Shall we segment that into tidy, multiple 250 mile train trips ?

Nobody rides Amtrak to combat global warming and nobody is going to electrify anything.

i ride Amtrak for three reasons.

first it is highly union

second it is a greener form of travel than air or car

third it is generally pleasurable.

i can’t afford lots of land cruises but when i do the carbon footprint is part of it. it should be for everyone.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Outside of some very select corridors, our rail system is a complete embarrassment. The biggest advantage of rail, at this point in time, is to combat global warming and get cars off the road and people out of airplanes.

Outside of some very select corridors, our rail system is the only one left in the entire Western Hemisphere. The biggest advantage of Amtrak, at this point in time, is that it still exists despite endless calls to revamp it into a niche regional service with no grand bargain.

Spending countless dollars on multi-day land cruises is not the way to tackle this crisis. I would much rather see the money spent on corridors that can make a real difference, focusing on trips of 2-6 hours in duration between large metropolitan centers. Electrify these lines and make the track reliably fast.

Most long distance travelers are in coach class with no frills or fancy land cruise service to speak of. We could shut down every overnight route and electrify every Amtrak corridor and it would not move the needle on emissions. The biggest (temporary) reduction was 5% and that required a global pandemic.

 

[AmtrakFlyer]

With all the hoopla about the NEC centric board, the holds on nominations, demands for improvements to the National network, etc. Why would Coscia start up with this language that’s reminiscent of 2018? My bet is they (the BOD and Gardner) were hoping the House would agree and suggest some or all LD routes be cut or made broken in corridors. The writing has been on the wall for a year the House would not be generous to Amtrak and I think Coscia proactively was reaching out to them.

Honest question why would he say this when his own nomination was being held for this exact line of reasoning? He uses words like “redrawn” like they did in 2018 instead of more appropriate words like “expanded”.

I think we’re seeing a glimpse of how the 2018 mentally is still very much alive.

1. “Corsica on 6/21/2023: "We believe that the map for Amtrak needs to be redrawn to reflect what the population of the United States looks like in 2023, and not what it looked like in 1971 when Amtrak inherited assets from defunct railroads. So, we think there is an enormous amount of opportunity that is driven by demand. In order to achieve that level of service we will need a number of things to happen."

 

[Exvalley]

Outside of some very select corridors, our rail system is the only one left in the entire Western Hemisphere. The biggest advantage of Amtrak, at this point in time, is that it still exists despite endless calls to revamp it into a niche regional service with no grand bargain.

So because Europe and parts of Asia are beating us we should just give up? Interesting approach there...

I want to see long distance service as much as anyone else. But let's be honest, there is a very finite demand for such a service. 14,723 people used Amtrak in Fargo, ND in 2022. 455,512 used the airport - and many others drive to Minneapolis to use the aiport there. Theoretically, underserved communities benefit from rail service, but I have yet to see apocalyptical reports of people living in Redfield, South Dakota being stranded and withering away, screaming at the top of their lungs, "If only Amtrak served our town!"

In terms of getting butts in seats, development of corridor service is BY FAR the way to go. We need to be serious about reducing carbon emissions, and building out corridor service is very low hanging fruit - albeit an expensive fruit.

And it doesn't have to be binary. We can continue to run long distance service while we build out corridors. But if Amtrak isn't serious about meeting demand where it makes the most sense for both people and the planet, it's hard to argue that it should exist at all.

Unpopular opinion, I know, but don't complain when people don't take Amtrak seriously if Amtrak doesn't take itself seriously.

For example, what do you think the public enthusiasm would be for these two scenarios:
1) Amtrak is going to build an electrified corridor that will get you from Atlanta to Orlando in 4 hours and Miami in 6.5; or
2) Amtrak is going to add an overnight train between Chicago and Miami that will average 45 mph.

With the economic growth in Texas and the Southeast, there is some real opportunity here.

We are the richest country on the planet. We can do better.