Amtrak Panel May Suggest to Congress
A Breakup of Passenger-Train System

By DANIEL MACHALABA
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

A congressionally established group overseeing Amtrak is moving toward a
recommendation to Congress that could lead to a breakup of the national
passenger-train system.

The Amtrak Reform Council is reviewing restructuring options for passenger
rail service that could lead to a shift from the single national
train-operating company that now exists, possibly in favor of regional
companies or services organized by states or groups of states.

"The council is moving away from the Amtrak we have today," said Thomas
Till, executive director of the Amtrak Reform Council, which was created by
Congress in 1997 to oversee Amtrak's progress toward financial
self-sufficiency and recommend a new structure if Amtrak failed to do so.
"Getting the states and other political jurisdictions below the federal
level much more involved and giving them the resources to fashion passenger
services is a much better approach."

Last month, the council concluded that Amtrak wouldn't meet its
congressional deadline for operating without federal subsidies by the end of
next year. That set in motion a 90-day clock for the council to recommend a
new program for providing passenger-train operations in America. Congress
could decide to follow the group's recommendations, stay with the current
Amtrak system, or adopt some other approach.

At a meeting Friday in Washington, the council also showed leanings toward
providing a larger role for the private sector in operating train services
and maintaining or improving rail infrastructure. But the council appeared
to stay clear of options that would radically curtail rail passenger
service.

Some rail advocates want a new federal policy that will do a better job of
tying the nation's transport system of air, bus, rail and transit together
and upgrading rail infrastructure to play a bigger role in a new network.
Such advocates want to get the government to provide the same kind of
program for supporting rail infrastructure that has been effective in
expanding the nation's highways and airports.

Under that approach, the government would provide the infrastructure, the
states would implement the program, and the private sector would compete to
operate transportation services. In the Amtrak model, one company is charged
with administering the national program, operating the trains and fixing the
infrastructure.

For their part, Amtrak officials said the notion of breaking up the rail
carrier raises questions about the benefits that would be lost. Amtrak also
noted the company already competes "very successfully" for regional
commuter-rail contracts around the country.

"The real question remains, however, how to do you align resources and
responsibility for the national rail system," said Amtrak spokesman William
Schulz. "We look forward to working with the Amtrak Reform Council, Congress
and the Bush administration to resolve that question."

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