This letter also makes clear our concern that any “Amtrak-gun-carriage” provision which you adopt be limited to a study which will give Congress a complete picture of relevant costs and logistics.

Need for Additional Passenger Train Cars

Investment in new rolling stock is essential if the nation is to provide the capacity that Americans will need in the future.  It will also restart an American manufacturing industry that once employed tens of thousands of highly skilled workers and led the world in passenger train technology—and, with the right investments, could in the future offer productive jobs, including for workers displaced from the automobile industry.

In 2008, when gas prices topped $4 a gallon, Amtrak and transit agencies didn’t have enough equipment to meet demand.  As the world economy recovers and fuel costs rise again, we can expect a similar surge in demand.  So that Americans won’t again be stranded without transportation choices, Congress must act now to begin a large scale, long-term program to acquire new passenger train equipment.

New equipment will permit:

These steps will move us toward the interconnected “grid and gateway” system required to provide Americans with the modern passenger train service they want.  New equipment requires long lead times – three to five years for existing designs; longer for new designs.  Congress can’t wait until the next gas crisis hits.

Equipment procurement and vision go hand in hand.  America needs a passenger train system that connects the entire nation – “from coast to coast and border to border” – one that can serve most Americans, excite the public imagination and inspire the widespread political support needed to fund it.  The vision can incorporate state initiatives but cannot depend on them.

The importance of federal leadership and funding to the creation of the overall system the nation needs is reflected in the fact that about 55% of intercity trips begin in one state and end in another.  Indeed, in 35 states, the percent is two thirds or more.  The importance of the federal role is also reflected in the fact that neither the Northeast Corridor nor Amtrak’s national system could exist if dependent on state funds.

Two years ago, our Association published a proposal that defined the type of national passenger train network we believe America will need in the future.  Today, we are urging the US Department of Transportation and Amtrak to embark on a large scale, long-term program to acquire new passenger train equipment.

We have developed a proposal that illustrates the magnitude of the nation’s immediate need for passenger train equipment.  It suggests quantities and possible deployments.  We intend this as a catalyst, a challenge and a framework for a procurement program of the magnitude needed to replace obsolete equipment and to support carefully planned service improvements and expansions.

Transportation investments made now have impact far beyond the short term, annual appropriation cash cost.  A $4 billion investment in high speed rail equipment and infrastructure today will help address critical national objectives beyond transportation – including jobs, economic development, national security, fuel efficiency, foreign oil dependence and carbon emissions.  We stand ready to help and support you.

Response to Wicker Amendment

If conferees respond to the Senate-passed amendment to require Amtrak to accept guns as checked baggage by March 31, 2010, we urge that this take the form of a study by Amtrak and the Secretaries of Transportation, Homeland Security and Justice, identifying full costs of requiring Amtrak to accept guns as checked baggage, including at various service levels.  For example, while baggage cars generally are confined to the overnight trains and the Talgo trains operating in the Pacific Northwest, checked baggage currently is offered on two California corridors (Pacific Surfliners and San Joaquins) where the baggage is placed in the same cars in which passengers ride, rather than in separate cars.

The Association believes consideration of any mandate to accept guns as checked baggage should await full determination of the relevant costs and logistical issues.  This is even more important if Amtrak gets less than it has requested for both operations and capital, and in light of the Senate mandate (and Amtrak’s commitment in any event) to spend the full amount proposed for ADA station compliance even without full funding.

We of course strongly oppose the extraordinary step of mandating an end to funding of Amtrak, and thus a forced shutdown of the railroad, on the basis of its gun policy. Indeed, other than the notorious “glide path to self-sufficiency,” we are not aware of any similar threat during the railroad’s 38-year history.
Thank you very much for considering our views.


Respectfully yours,

George Chilson        
Chairman of the Board  

Ross Capon
President & CEO

Rick Harnish, Executive Director
Midwest High Speed Rail Association

Cc: The Honorable Thad Cochran
The Honorable Patty Murray
The Honorable Kit Bond
The Honorable David Obey
The Honorable Jerry Lewis
The Honorable John Olver
The Honorable Tom Latham
Similar letter to other conferees and The Honorable Harry Reid