Amtrak Funding:  The bill provides $550 million for Amtrak, which is $550 million more than was included in the budget request for Amtrak operations, and $657 million below the enacted level.  This bill prohibits federal funding for any Amtrak route that requires a subsidy of $30 or more per passenger – most of which are long-distance trains.  The mark allows Amtrak to use non-federal resources to support other routes, and does not mandate that any routes be shut down or truncated.  In a time of flat budgets and large deficits, taxpayers cannot continue to subsidize poor management and unprofitable services.

 

Amtrak Operations and Mismanagement:  For too long, Amtrak has played a Chicken Little game with Congress over its funding levels.  Officials would declare a crisis, threatening immediate shut downs of service because of supposed inadequate funding.  Further analysis reveals that Amtrak alone is to blame for the bulk of their problems – most notably taking on nearly $4 billion in debt, much of which occurred in the mid- to late-1990s, yet failing to make the infrastructure investments along the Northeast Corridor that are so critically needed to maintain efficient operations.  Instead, important maintenance was deferred to pursue money-losing ventures, which in turn increased operational costs.  In addition, Amtrak points to increased ridership as a sign that the railroad is on its way to financial health and as a justification that Congress continue to inject vast sums of taxpayer resources in passenger rail service.  However, in order to increase ridership, Amtrak has charged ticket prices that are well below costs. For example, Amtrak is currently offering fares that are discounted by 90% – this is simply not good business in light of Amtrak’s current projection that 2005 revenues will be $95 million short of its original estimate.

 

Unprofitable Services:  The Chairman Mark’s fully supports rail service for 4 out of 5 riders or 80 percent of Amtrak’s ridership.  Specifically, the bill permits Amtrak to use federal funds to support operations for:  all routes in the Northeast Corridor including spurs that run from New York City to Albany, from New Haven, Connecticut to Vermont and from Portland, Maine to Boston; routes running through Pennsylvania; most corridor routes in the Midwest; trains running from Portland, Oregon to Vancouver; and corridor routes in California. In order to address capital needs, the Chairman’s Mark includes $50 million for the Secretary of Transportation to improve the condition of the Northeast Corridor.