Heritage Foundation at it again

Ron Utt of the Heritage Foundation has issued another anti-Amtrak diatribe. One new element in his pitch is an unfounded attack on S. 1516, the bipartisan rail passenger reauthorization bill. Utt says S. 1516 would “interrupt the management and operational reforms now underway, or promised, by Amtrak’s new management” and “limit the extent to which Amtrak could engage in such promising reforms as competitive contracting, concessions, and public/private partnerships.”

In fact, S. 1516 incorporates many of the statutory reforms that Amtrak sought to advance its strategic reform initiatives.  They include:

• a federal capital matching program for state investments in passenger rail (Sec. 301);
• provisions that would specifically authorize (not limit) competition on both long distance and state supported routes (Secs. 211, 218);
• provisions to improve on-time performance of Amtrak trains on tracks of host freight railroads (Sec. 209);
• provisions that would facilitate (not limit) public-private partnerships (Sec. 301);
• NEC cost sharing provisions that eliminate current disparities in what different users pay (Sec. 214); and
• authorization to the Secretary of the Treasury to restructure Amtrak’s debt where restructuring will reduce federal funding requirements (Sec. 215).

Utt makes clear what has been obvious to many: he would dump all long-distance trains. He says “a good place to begin would be the Sunset Limited” but continues “this should be followed by the Silver Service.”

This makes the true intentions of anti-Amtrak pundits clear: killing the entire national network.

-Ross Capon