Amtrak’s last-minute reprieve won’t mean much unless the Bush administration has truly changed its attitude toward passenger rail service.
Amtrak had been on the verge of starting to shut down this week. Thanks to Department of Transportation assurances, the deadline has been extended. As attempts to reach a solution continued Wednesday, the rail passenger service was still in danger of collapse by the end of next week.
Congress and the administration must agree on viable, long-range plans to ensure rail passenger service continues to give Americans an alternative to highway and air travel.
Amtrak’s leadership bears plenty of blame for the financial failures that have been allowed to multiply. The biggest leadership failure, however, comes from the Bush administration, which has appeared willing to let the financial crisis kill off the national system.
The administration says that states should be allowed more control of Amtrak lines. That likely would require states pony up more money — something that would probably be an insurmountable hurdle for Washington and most other states.
As on many other issues, the administration appears to be catering exclusively to the more conservative wing of the Republican Party. Thus, a contentious confrontation has been created where bipartisan cooperation would have been easily obtainable months ago if the administration had paid more attention. Yes, there’s a case to be made for privatization of some governmental activities. It’s more ideological than practical, however, in the case of passenger railroads, which serve valuable functions in most industrialized countries.
Rail passenger service seems to require at least some government subsidy in any country. Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania pointed out recently, "Every industrialized nation in the world subsidizes transportation and in the United States, we subsidize transportation without a second thought on highways, on airlines, on airports, and this country needs Amtrak."
Specter supports direct appropriations to keep Amtrak running, which Washington’s Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, chair of the Senate’s transportation appropriations subcommittee, has been seeking. Murray’s spokesman said Wednesday that the senator was encouraged that Amtrak has additional time.
The administration ought to recognize that most Americans want transportation options. Amtrak needs changes if the nation is to truly enjoy the potential environmental and economic benefits of more passenger service. Wrecking Amtrak will only frustrate Americans’ search for better transportation systems.
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