Hotline #230 - February 15, 2002

Amtrak gained market share again in January. For domestic aviation, ridership ("enplanements") dropped 14.7% from a year ago; passenger-miles were down 12.8%. The comparable measures for Amtrak were up 4.5% and 5.0%, respectively.

The Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing February 14. The witnesses were Amtrak Reform Council Chairman Gil Carmichael, Executive Director Thomas Till, and Council Members Nancy Connery, Jim Coston, Wendell Cox, and Charles Moneypenny. They gave the subcommittee an outline of their report's recommendations (which Moneypenny voted against) -- essentially, a splitting of operations and infrastructure, plus continuation of federal capital and operating grants, with no clear recommendation on the source of funding, the size of funding, or the size of the system to be operated.

Subcommittee Chairman Jack Quinn (R.-N.Y.) said, "... We as lawmakers must clearly define our expectations of rail service in this country. In 1971, Amtrak was created to perform a public service. Yet in 1997, we made a law saying that Amtrak must reach operational self-sufficiency. We have given Amtrak two mandates -- to act as a public service and as a profitable company ... The federal government must make a commitment to develop and fund passenger rail ..."

Committee Ranking Democrat James Oberstar (Minn.) said, "I opposed the formation of the ARC, but we had to agree to do it to save Amtrak. I respect Mr. Carmichael, but the Council from the very outset treated Amtrak unfairly ... None of these people [who have served as Amtrak president] was a hacker, but none could do the impossible -- operate rail service under these conditions at a profit. Amtrak inherited the cast-offs from the freight railroads ... The [DOT] Office of Inspector General says Amtrak worked at the [operational self-sufficiency] goal at the expense of basic service. The OIG said that to defer maintenance and mortgage assets in order to appear to make progress on operational self-sufficiency would be a hollow and short-lived victory ... The ARC misses the boat -- don't balkanize Amtrak to save it, or in the process, we will destroy it."

Subcommittee Ranking Democrat Bob Clement (Tenn.) said, "We need a national passenger rail system ... After September 11, people want rail service. Maybe it's the right time to face these challenges."

John Mica (R.-Fla.), author of a bill to pare rail service back to only the Northeast Corridor and Auto Train, said, "People who want a national system will have to pay the piper ... National service should be a cruise experience, not an Amtrak public-sector endurance trial."

Spencer Bachus (R.-Ala.) said, "We have high-speed corridors. We also have long-distance trains, which railfans ride for nostalgic reasons. In the short-term, perhaps we should pare back to the Northeast Corridor and a few other corridors, then decide what to do for the rest of the nation. If we want it, we will have to pay for it, and we haven't so far ..."

Jerry Nadler (D.-N.Y.) said, "Amtrak is important to security. September 11 highlighted what we should have known already; that rail must be preserved. Congress should bite the bullet and support it ... Congress very irrationally mandated operational self-sufficiency and created the ARC in order to reach a foregone conclusion. It is a disaster to break up and privatize it ... Rail subsidies are not a burden on government resources. The DOT gets $59 billion, with less than 1% going to Amtrak. Highways get half, yet who says highways are bankrupting the country? Trains are energy-efficient and friendly to the environment. We should encourage passenger and freight use to reduce dependency on foreign oil. We should spread rail to all parts of the country ... We should spread travel around to other modes and not leave one mode vulnerable to attack. The federal government didn't mandate that airlines should be profitable before giving them $15 billion in aid. Why hold Amtrak to a different standard?"

Elijah Cummings (D.-Md.) said, "Many infrastructure improvements were delayed" by Amtrak, due to rising operating costs and reduced funding during the time of the operational self-sufficiency mandate. "Rising operating costs and less funding is a recipe for disaster ... States can't do it for an interstate operation. States cannot afford to pay for Amtrak. It won't matter who operates trains if the infrastructure needs aren't met."

The Railroads Subcommittee will have two follow-up hearings. The next, March 6, will consider the "Successes and Failures of Amtrak and of the Amtrak Reform Accountability Act of 1997;" the last, on April 11, will consider "Passenger Rail in America: What Should It Look Like?"

Amtrak eliminated checked baggage service at San Bernardino, Cal., effective today. The station is served by the Southwest Chief.

Downeaster service to Saco, Me., begins February 19. There will be a ceremony, hosted by the mayor, at 2:00 pm to welcome the first train.

A bill allowing Ohio to join the Midwest Regional Rail Compact was approved February 12 by the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee. Bill S.B.212 now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

A bill that would have allowed Colorado voters to consider state funding for transit and passenger rail was killed in committee on February 12. Bill HR-1248, the Multimodal Transportation Funding Bill, was rejected by the state House Affairs, Veterans, and Military Committee on a party-line vote. ColoRail, the passenger group, supported the bill. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Alice Madden (D.-Boulder) said she'd try again next year.

Kenosha Transit's streetcar service, shut down on February 6 due to anticipated city budget problems and weak winter ridership, will be restored weekends only starting tomorrow. Daily service will run in the summer (Memorial Day-Labor Day).