Saving Amtrak

By Boston Blobe Editorial, 6/22/2002

WHILE Transportation Secretary Norman V. Mineta fantasizes about private companies or states taking over Amtrak operations, the passenger railroad is facing an immediate cash-flow problem that could bring its trains to a halt all over the country. First things first. The Transportation Department should act now to grant Amtrak the $200 million loan guarantee it needs to stay in operation beyond next week.

Once that is settled, the long-term question of how best to provide intercity passenger rail service can get the attention it deserves. For good reason, few are happy with a status quo of heavily subsidized long-distance routes linked to a Northeast Corridor that covers its costs only because there has been systematic underfunding of its stations, trains, tracks, equipment, and rights-of-way.

The Bush administration is parroting the recommendations of the Amtrak Reform Council, which earlier this year called for the dismantling of Amtrak. The council was created by Congress to propose basic changes in Amtrak if it became clear that it would not be free of subsidies by the end of this year.

Self-sufficiency was an unrealistic goal for Amtrak from the start. Even in Europe, where greater population density makes train travel more convenient than it is in most of the United States, the great passenger rail systems are subsidized. As for splitting Amtrak up, Britain's recent experiment in separating the management of train operations from the maintenance of track and equipment is widely viewed as disastrous.

Both the reform council and the administration talk about letting other entities, private or public, bid on the right to provide train service, with states covering their operating losses. But Amtrak was created 30 years ago because of the inability of private railroads to provide passenger service profitably. As for the states, many - including Massachusetts - are already subsidizing commuter rail service and have shown no inclination to take on further subsidies.

But the most disappointing feature of both the council's and the administration's proposals is the lack of any provision for an earmarked source of revenue for rail passenger service that would pay for long-range improvements. Possibilities include a portion of the federal gasoline tax or a surtax on airline tickets. Unlike rail service, car and air travel enjoys enormous government subsidies. And improved rail service will reduce automobile pollution and congestion and take pressure off airports.

Amtrak has invested in Acela trains that can run at high speed only for a short stretch from Boston to New York because of problems with the corridor. Once Mineta grants Amtrak its loan guarantee, Congress should plan a future for rail passenger service based on a predictable revenue stream.

This story ran on page A10 of the Boston Globe on 6/22/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
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