BostonHerald.com
Sunday, December 9, 2001

High-speed train turns one
But Amtrak might still face ruin

by Doug Hanchett

It's sleek. It's fast. It's plush. It's the wave of the future.

If there is one for Amtrak.

The Acela Express bullet train, the 150 mph marvel that zips up and down the
Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C., celebrates its
one-year anniversary this week, with rail advocates championing its
performance over the first 52 weeks.

Acela Express has seen a steady increase in ridership as more trains have
been added - growing from about 9,000 riders its first month, to 52,000 in
June to 201,000 in October. In all, 857,000 riders have opted to cough up
the higher fare - $120 one way from Boston to New York - in exchange for
faster trip times and nicer creature comforts.

``It's clear what's happening,'' said former Bay State Gov. Michael S.
Dukakis, acting chairman of Amtrak's board of directors. ``You give the
people something that's clean and fast and attractive and comfortable, and
they'll come. This is just the beginning, in my judgment.''

Dukakis and other rail advocates better hope so. Because Acela's success
comes amid a stark reality: Amtrak is facing the biggest financial crisis in
its 30-year history, which has been marred by mismanagement and chronic cash
flow problems.

``It's a beautiful train, there's no question,'' said Nancy Connery of
Woolwich, Maine, a member of the Amtrak Reform Council. ``But in the end
it's still the same old Amtrak . . . captive of an infrastructure that is in
serious trouble.''

Last month Connery was one of six members of the reform council who
officially concluded what many thought was inevitable: Amtrak is not going
to make a congressionally mandated deadline to become financially
independent by next December.

The council narrowly approved the decision in a 6-5 vote, meaning Amtrak now
has 90 days to put together a liquidation plan to present to Congress. The
council, meanwhile, will submit a new blueprint for the nation's passenger
rail system.

Congress ultimately will decide Amtrak's fate - either giving it another
appropriation or opting to back some sort of alternative national rail
program - and determine whether to earmark billions of federal dollars for
the development of high speed rail corridors.

Acela's performance will play a central role in both debates. Despite the
uncertainty swirling around Amtrak, rail supporters are trumpeting the
triumphs of the high-speed train, despite a few embarrassing glitches along
the way.

``I think it's done exceptionally well for its first year of service,'' said
Jim RePass, president and CEO of the National Corridors Initiative. ``I
thought a year ago there'd be far more technical problems in its first year
of service. They've had some things go wrong . . . but nothing out of the
ordinary.''

Still, problems remain. Train engineers can put the pedal to the metal on
just 18 of the 231 miles between Boston and New York. And critics point out
that the trip time, 3 hours, is only half an hour better than what existed
in the 1950s - and 45 minutes better than Amtrak's regular trains, whose
fares are half of those for the Acela Express.

Amtrak also will be hard pressed to recover from the delay in launching the
service. It was originally slated to start in 1998, with Amtrak predicting 3
million riders on 26 Acela trains by 2000.

When the service finally kicked off amid much fanfare last December - a year
later than officials had hoped - the damage had been done. That one-year
delay cost Amtrak $300 million in revenue, prompting officials to mortgage
Penn Station in New York to make up the shortfall.

``(Acela) was a big high-stakes gamble for the company,'' said Connery.
``But in the end it's been disappointing. I don't think it's been an abject
failure - it certainly points the way to what rail could be - but it's a
small step. I don't think it's as big a step as people and the company
thought it would be.''

But Dukakis - who will be at South Station tomorrow afternoon to revel in
Acela Express' anniversary and unveil the ninth daily round-trip from
Boston - still believes the bullet trains are what will save Amtrak.

``Our work is cut out for us,'' said Dukakis. ``But if we continue to build
the kind of market share we're building with the Acela, I think it will go a
long way to making us operationally self-sufficient. And it ought to be
proof enough that this can fly anywhere in the country.''

Connery agrees that Acela Express will become the model for high-speed rail
nationwide. But she wonders if Amtrak will be the agency to oversee service
on 10 federally designated routes in various stages of development or if the
job will fall to regional or private operators.

``I think it could work that way, too,'' she said. ``Amtrak should have the
first crack at it, but I don't think it's the only show in town.''

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