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Amtrak says 50% rise in budget is crucial
(The following article by Timothy Williams was posted on the New York Times website on April 21.)
WASHINGTON -- Amtrak, which announced on Wednesday that its flagship Acela Express service would be suspended until summer, said today that it needed an additional $682 million in federal assistance - or half again as much as the $1.2 billion in federal subsidies it now receives.
"Despite the record number of passengers being served by the railroad today, Amtrak cannot continue business as usual, nor can the snail pace of passenger rail development continue to lag behind the growing need in high-demand regions of the country," Amtrak's president and chief executive, David L. Gunn, said in a statement issued by the rail line.
Amtrak officials are to testify today before a subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee. The hearing, which will focus on Amtrak's budget and operations, was scheduled before Amtrak's disclosure of trouble with its high-speed Acela line.
Amtrak suspended Acela service, which operates between Boston and Washington, on April 14, after an inspector discovered cracks in brake parts. On Wednesday, Amtrak said that its 20 Acela trains would be out of service until summer, to be replaced until then by slower, conventional Metroliner trains. Top officials say Metroliner service will be nearly as fast, with a trip from New York to Washington taking only about 12 minutes more. The difference from New York to Boston is slightly greater, about 23 minutes.
Acela, which typically carries 10,000 riders each weekday on its Northeast Corridor line linking Washington, New York and Boston, is Amtrak's most successful venture, bringing in about $300 million a year. All told, Amtrak says, its trains carry 68,000 people a day in the 46 states where it operates.
The company, a perennial money-loser even though it was founded as a profit-making enterprise, is under intense pressure from the Bush administration to operate more efficiently. It has not turned a profit since its inception in 1971 and relies heavily on federal subsidies.
The Bush administration has said it will not support granting federal subsidies to the rail line if Amtrak fails to make significant changes, including opening itself up to competition. The White House declined a request for comment this afternoon.
Last week, the administration sent Congress a proposal to turn Amtrak into a private company that would focus on running trains in competition with other rail lines. A federal-state partnership would be established to maintain tracks and stations.
In its statement today, Amtrak said that if its annual budget were increased to $1.82 billion from $1.2 billion, it would be able to upgrade itself so that it would eventually be able to bid competitively with other rail lines for service in some areas of the nation.
"Amtrak must in the long run transform itself to a competitive provider of passenger rail services, with the recognition that in the near term it will remain the steward of the national passenger rail system as it is today," Amtrak said.
The company statement added, however, that "Amtrak's board and management want to emphasize that Amtrak cannot continue to operate at the current funding level of $1.2 billion."
The rail line's $1.82 billion budget request for fiscal year 2006, which begins October 1, includes $787 million for capital infrastructure, $560 million for train operations and $278 million for debt service. Amtrak is about $4 billion in debt.
Friday, April 22, 2005
© 1997-2010 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
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