October
1997The ARPA Board of Directors has taken a bold step. The A.R.P.A. sent a letter supporting Arizona Senator John McCain's opposition to a $2.3 Billion "tax refund" for Amtrak. A.R.P.A. believes this country needs a strong passenger rail system which Amtrak, as it is currently structured, cannot provide.
At the September 21 ARPA Board of Directors meeting, the eight Directors present reaffirmed their support for the September 4th letter and approved the following five points:
Attached is the text of the ARPA letter to Arizona Senator McCain, who is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; also included below is the full text of ARPA's National Passenger Rail position paper, approved at the 21 June Board Meeting. One ARPA director has voiced a dissenting view. The Board encourages all ARPA members to call the ARPA Office, or any of the Directors, and comment on their viewpoints.
by Pierre Loomis, Editor, Illinois ARP RAILGRAM
The failure of Congress and the Clinton Administration to pass the Amtrak reauthorization bill has left the beleaguered rail carrier in a nearly hopeless situation. Perhaps in response to the confusion in Washington, two top Amtrak managers have quit the company: Mark Cane, President of Amtrak Intercity; and Doug Sizemore, head of Intercity Maintenance. While standard answers have been given as reasons for Cane's departure ("family responsibilities"), his frustration with the entire "Amtrak Situation" is well known.
And in Washington, Amtrak finds itself being used as a pawn in the continuing battles between Republicans and Democrats, with both sides being prepared to sacrifice Amtrak for the sake of "larger principles." Republicans have made it known that they will not pass Amtrak's reauthorization – and the funding that goes with it – without key reforms involving hot-button issues for labor. Democrats are reluctant to support the reforms, for fear of angering labor, and the White House has threatened to veto the legislation. In short, Amtrak is on the brink of extinction – again.
…Two years ago, labor leaders supported the proposed reforms, but they now seem willing to let Amtrak self-destruct rather than agree to reforms. Why? Labor is afraid that reforms at Amtrak would open the door to reforms at the nation's rail freight carriers and, frankly, rail labor has apparently decided to "draw a line in the sand," with the future of Amtrak hanging in the balance.
The Empire State (NY) Passengers Association (ESPA) quotes a Congressional staffer as saying that such optomism on the part of labor leaders is naïve. "The unions think we're going to bail out Amtrak no matter what," he said, "and that's simply not true."
Ken Bird
"…Amtrak is in deep, deep trouble. Even if the reauthorization passes – with the $2.3 billion in capital funding and needed labor reforms – it is doubtful that company can survive as a viable transportation entity. Billions will be needed just to keep the Northeast Corridor in operation, much less the skeletal long distance network attempting to serve the rest of the nation.
"Those of us who have spent decades and uncounted personal funds 'fighting for Amtrak' must come to the realization that Amtrak is no longer worth fighting for. The much vaunted 'National Rail Passenger System' touted by NARP is a hollow shell of politically inspired trains – some of them on tri-weekly, third world schedules…
"It is time to… start over with a clean sheet of paper and plan a market-based system of high speed rail corridors financed by public-private partnerships…"
Guilford, which consolidated most of the New England railroads, and is now a successful regional business, wrote the United States Department of Transportation in May with its offer to negotiate an acquisition.
Amtrak's response was, "We don't take it seriously," admitting it lost $163 million there last year on operations. Said Guilford President David A. Fink: "[We believe] that Amtrak should be privatized... [Our] nation promotes the privatization of rail systems throughout the world while perpetuating the ineffeciencies of our own publicly financed passenger rail system."
A report released September 5th by the American Public Transit Association (APTA) finds that commuter rail service returns five dollars in terms of benefits to the nation for every dollar invested. "Commuter Rail: Serving America's Emerging Suburban/Urban Economy" also documents an 8.8% growth in ridership from 1993 to 1996 among all systems, with a 27% increase among newer services. According to the report, farebox recovery rates are near 50% for U.S. commuter rail systems; state and local sources provide over 90% of the operating funds.
Among the dozens of metropolitan areas nationwide currently looking into bringing new commuter rail systems on-line: Seattle, Sacramento, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Memphis, Nashville, Tampa, Jacksonville, Raleigh-Durham, Atlanta, and Burlington, Vermont.
For more information contact APTA at 202/898-4000 or see their website.
"I was in downtown Houston last month and faced a very bad traffic jam. BUMPER to BUMPER. I could not help but think of my recent trip up to Dallas for the Tri-State rail meeting and the quick, clean, and quiet DART system. Also, the rapidly growing Trinity Railway Express line that will reach out to Ft. Worth soon. When you think about it, as Dan Monaghan told me, Dallas had plenty of people who said it would never work. They were WRONG.
"I believe that in the Southwest, rail will become the way to go in our larger cities: Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Ft. Worth, and yes, my birthplace Houston. [Phoenix, Tucson, … – Ed.] Why do I think this will happen? It will be because of efforts like DART. When commuters are given the option to travel quickly into the downtown areas by rail, they will do so. Dallas has proven it.
"I would add that we in the Southwest need to do everything we can to STOP cities, states, or private railroads from ripping up rail lines. When the rails are gone, our options for transportation in those areas for future rail are destroyed."
