The News Journal

By Raju Chebium

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WASHINGTON -- Delaware lawmakers are opposing a Republican measure under which Amtrak would lose ownership of the only rail route it owns -- the Northeast Corridor -- and private companies would be invited to offer high-speed rail service on the heavily traveled route.

The proposal is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The measure is being written by Reps. John Mica, R-Fla., and Bill Shuster, R-Pa. Mica is chairman of the transportation committee and Shuster heads that panel's rail subcommittee.

It would transfer ownership of the Northeast Corridor to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The bill's aim is to minimize or eliminate annual taxpayer subsidies of $1 billion-$2 billion for the quasi-public Amtrak, the nation's sole passenger railroad.
The bill would require the Transportation Department to invite bids from private companies to take over some or all aspects of operating and maintaining high-speed rail service on the 437-mile corridor, which stretches from Washington through New York to Boston.

Private firms could submit bids to run the trains and maintain tracks, bridges, tunnels and electrical equipment. Or they could bid to do some of those jobs in conjunction with Amtrak, Mica said.

Amtrak would also be able to bid for the work.

"I strongly support a national passenger rail system. This is not any attempt to dilute the system in any way. But I think we can make the service even better and reduce subsidization," Mica said. "The whole concept of this is attracting private capital."
Amtrak says it needs $117 billion over the next 30 years to provide true super-fast service -- trains going faster than 200 mph. Mica said Congress is unlikely to give out that kind of money. Private companies, he said, could probably do the job within 10 years and at little to no cost.

Critics blasted the plan as unrealistic. Congress created Amtrak in 1971 because private companies no longer wanted to run unprofitable passenger trains, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said in a statement.

Amtrak chief Joseph Boardman, who used to head the Federal Railroad Administration under President George W. Bush, said no private company has expressed interest in offering passenger rail service.

"President Harry Truman once said, 'The only thing new in this world is the history that you don't know,'" said Carper, a former Amtrak director. "Amtrak is not broken and I am not convinced that this proposal is the correct solution to Amtrak's challenges."
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Amtrak is improving operations and setting ridership records, proving its value to the corridor.
"While I wholeheartedly support public-private partnerships, I do not support selling off the entire Northeast Corridor to the private sector. Amtrak service is too important to our regional economy," Coons said.

Mica deserves praise for focusing on high-speed rail and the Northeast Corridor, but his plan raises big questions, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

"The administration has serious concerns about any proposal to privatize Amtrak's Northeast Corridor," LaHood said in a statement.
The Northeast Corridor -- Amtrak's "crown jewel" -- helps U.S. passengers by generating revenue to prop up rural routes, said Rep. John Carney, D-Del.

"I do support Amtrak's current plan to secure private investment for the Northeast Corridor, but I oppose this attempt to sell off its most valuable public asset to private bidders," Carney said. "Amtrak is best-equipped to modernize passenger rail service quickly and efficiently, as it is already working to do."

If the measure passes the House, Senate and White House prospects are weak. Vice President Joe Biden is a fierce Amtrak advocate who took the train from Washington to Wilmington daily for more than 30 years as a U.S. senator.