Railroad Passengers Support $1.873 Billion for Amtrak

Release #06-08—May 30, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—In a statement filed today with the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that controls Amtrak, the National Association of Railroad Passengers strongly endorsed Amtrak’s full funding request.  The statement noted, “Viewed in the context of national need and world energy concerns…Amtrak’s request, which totals $1.873 billion, is conservative.”

NARP approvingly quoted a May 28 New York Times editorial:  “Amtrak, which at one point was to have received zero federal funds after 2002, has been offered $900 million by the administration for next year.  That amount is so low it should be an insult…If President Bush really wants transportation alternatives, it is time for a strategic look at how the railroads can serve as an even more important escape valve for the nation’s overloaded transportation system.”

NARP’s statement, like a similar one filed April 14 with the House appropriations subcommittee, listed some areas where Amtrak initiatives already are improving—or should be undertaken to improve—Amtrak’s financial performance:

·      modernizing equipment maintenance practices, which Amtrak’s own inspector general called 20 years out of date compared to practices of the major freight railroads;

·      food service; and

·      restoring mail carriage “where this would be incrementally profitable,” since “every study of which we are aware indicated mail was profitable for Amtrak”.

NARP noted that Amtrak’s yield (average revenue per passenger-mile) has risen steadily, with

·      FY 2005 yield 65% above the FY 1994 level;

·      Yield for first seven months of FY 2006 (October-April) 9.8% above the same months in FY 2005.

Capon said, “If anything, Amtrak arguably has been too aggressive in raising fares.”  NARP praised California’s policy of underwriting relatively low fares on its three Amtrak corridors, saying, “Lower fares mean higher ridership, and help America and its people deal more effectively with scarce oil.”

NARP urged “Congress to hold Amtrak accountable for the bottom line, but to be as restrained as possible with regard to specific directives as to how to get there.  The history of Amtrak is replete with examples of ‘good legislative intentions’ which sometimes have resulted in higher costs rather than reform—including directives in the 1980s regarding food service.  The more the law contains specific directives about how to manage the company, the greater the danger that management focus would be distracted from doing what is best for the bottom line, and that responsibility for results would shift from management to the sources of the specific directives.”

The full text of the statement (and our earlier House Appropriations statement) is available here on our website.  Our May 26 release, issued after that subcommittee approved just $900 million, is in our News Release section.

Full name of the Senate subcommittee:  Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.