Panel:Amtrak Should be Broken Up (Dukakis Disagrees)

AP ^ | Lawrence Arnold

[Clemenza]

Panel: Amtrak Should Be Broken Up By LAURENCE ARNOLD, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - A congressionally appointed panel said Thursday that Amtrak is irreversibly flawed and should be broken up to give the free market an opportunity to improve the nation's passenger train system.

Amtrak, created to relieve freight railways of the burden of carrying passengers, should be replaced at least in part by private operators working under franchise, the Amtrak Reform Council said.

The council's report, sent to Congress, says Amtrak should be relieved of policy-making duties and landownership. After a transition period, private operators would be allowed to compete for contracts to run specific routes.

If enacted, the change would be dramatic. Amtrak, formed in 1971, is the nation's sole provider of intercity passenger train travel.

``The council believes that passenger rail service will never achieve its potential as provided and managed by Amtrak,'' the report says.

The council voted 9-1 in a mail ballot this week to approve the report, which was released Thursday. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta (news - web sites), the Bush administration's representative on the panel, abstained. Charles Moneypenny, who represented rail labor, cast the only ``no'' vote.

The next step is up to Congress, due to vote this year on whether to authorize Amtrak's continued existence. The House Transportation Committee has scheduled a Feb. 14 hearing on the report.

White House budget director Mitchell Daniels said this week the Bush administration plans to study the council's plan before deciding on a course for Amtrak and passenger rail.

The plan faces a hostile reception from Amtrak supporters on and off Capitol Hill.

``I think this report should be rejected out of hand,'' said Amtrak chairman Michael Dukakis, former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate. He called decentralization ``a prescription for bureaucratic paralysis.''

Dukakis said the real issue is money.

Amtrak says it has a $5.8 billion backlog in work needed on its trains, tracks, rail yards and stations. The Transportation Department's inspector general, Kenneth Mead, reported last month that Amtrak needs at least $1 billion a year to stave off deterioration of its assets, most of which are in the Northeast.

Last week, Amtrak said it will cancel long-distance routes unless it receives $1.2 billion in the 2003 budget year, which begins in October. President Bush (news - web sites) has proposed $521 million for Amtrak, the same amount as the last three years.

In its report, the reform council endorses ``adequate and secure sources of funding for intercity passenger rail service'' but specifies no amount.

The reform council's chairman, Gilbert Carmichael, said Thursday that Amtrak's problems do not relate to funding. ``They stem from an organization that is obsolete, can't do all the things it is supposed to do, and has to change,'' he said.

Amtrak, in a statement, agreed that ``the current policy model for passenger rail does not work.'' But it said the reform council sidestepped questions about how big a rail system Americans want, or how much such a system will cost.

Under the council's plan, a new subsidiary of the National Railroad Passenger Corp. - Amtrak's official name - would conduct train operations, ultimately franchising out some or all routes through competitive bidding.

Another subsidiary would own, operate and maintain the tracks, property and stations now under Amtrak's control.

``The council believes that, as is the case throughout our free-market economy, competition would drive down costs and improve service quality and customer satisfaction,'' the executive summary says.

Congress created the council as part of an overhaul that gave Amtrak until Dec. 2, 2002, to begin operating without government subsidies. The council voted 6-5 in November that Amtrak will not achieve that goal, a finding that gave the panel 90 days to come up with a restructuring plan.

Amtrak President George Warrington said the council's November vote cost Amtrak $52 million because it forced some pending business deals to fall apart.

The rail labor division of the AFL-CIO's transportation trades department failed last week to persuade a federal judge to block release of the council's report.

[B-Chan]

The Trans-Texas Corrodor System

"Governor Rick Perry today unveiled the "Trans Texas Corridor" plan, a fiscally responsible and innovative transportation blueprint that will improve our state's transportation needs, move the transport of hazardous materials out of urban population centers, reduce air pollution and significantly improve opportunities for economic development and job creation in Texas.

The Trans Texas Corridor incorporates toll and non-toll roads, high-speed freight and commuter rail, water lines, oil and gas pipelines, electric transmission lines, broadband and other telecommunications infrastructure in the same corridors.

With population projections showing that Texas could grow from 21 million residents today to 50 million over the next few decades, Perry stated that planning for tomorrow's transportation needs is essential.

'We need a transportation system that meets the needs of tomorrow, not one that struggles to keep up with the needs of yesterday,' Perry said. 'The Trans Texas Corridor will map out a brighter future for Texas. It is a plan to ease traffic congestion and increase the safety and security of Texans living in crowded cities and suburbs, near congested border crossings, and in our smallest communities in rural Texas.'

The Trans Texas Corridor plan utilizes innovative and fiscally sound funding methods that will allow the state to construct the system with a minimal expenditure of public money. Those measures were approved by the Texas Legislature and by Texas voters last year. Through Exclusive Development Agreement authority, Toll Equity, Regional Mobility Authorities and the Texas Mobility Fund, Texas can use increasingly tight state and federal funds to partner with public and private entities to design, build, operate and manage the innovative system - without new taxes.

'The Trans Texas Corridor plan also will help Texas reduce air pollution and lead to better stewardship of our natural resources,' Perry said. "Improved infrastructure will provide unprecedented opportunities for economic growth, creating jobs and luring businesses to Texas because of a superior, safe and efficient transportation system.'" [Source]

"The Corridor will link with existing interstate systems, three existing regional transportation systems, as well as major ports of entry in Laredo, El Paso, Brownsville, Corpus Christi and Houston. [Gov. Perry] has asked Texas Transportation Commissioners to finalize a plan by this summer.

The corridors will consist of six highway vehicle lanes - three in each direction - and six rail lines - three in each direction. One rail line will be dedicated to high speed commuter rail, one to high speed freight rail and one dedicated to short haul regional rail, which could serve as the backbone of a local commuter rail system serving all Texans. The governor emphasized that his Trans Texas Corridor plan will involve the construction of rail lines at the same time roads are built.

The corridors also will have easements for petroleum, natural gas, electric and telecommunications lines. By locating the infrastructure in the corridors, industries will be able to increase public safety by gradually moving their lines away from neighborhoods and population centers. At the same time, Texas businesses, citizens and residents of rural communities will have increased access to water utility lines, petroleum pipelines, natural gas pipelines, electric lines, communication lines and other public resources.

When all segments are completed, the system will provide approximately 4,000 miles of roads, rail, water lines and lift stations to transport water from border to border, broadband, oil and gas pipelines, and electric utilities. Perry said construction could begin as early as this year. Construction of the entire plan, which will extend all across Texas, is expected to take at least 25 years to complete.

The Trans Texas Corridor also improves the state's ability to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks or other disasters by creating hazardous material routes outside major cities, and by providing transportation alternatives that make it more difficult to paralyze the state's infrastructure." [Source]

This is what we need.

x

[pt17]

Nice to see Dukakis remains the same socialist that he always was?

And it's also nice to see that his stupidity hasn't waned much either. Dukakis was one of the least able to understand that government can't run, manage or oversee much of anything efficiently, for all the many and obvious reasons he will never understand.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Again, how much will it cost to build a Philly to Pittsburgh maglev line? Afraid to admit the total cost for just one line?

[Willie Green]

The cost for this first 47-mile segment is estimated at $1.8 billion for the system infrastructure with a total project cost of $2.8 billion. Additional segments of the system would be financed by private and public partnerships. The system operating costs must be proven to be sufficient to support the investment costs and associated profit while in operation. The system is being costed for a usable 40 year service life on the propulsion, energy supply components, 30 years on the vehicles and an 80 year life on the guideway, longstator stator components and substructures.

The infrastructure is estimated at $40 million per mile.
It would be an additional 250 miles to complete the route to Philly.

[Mr. Lucky]

Nope, you've boo booed and should apologize to desao.

Your numbers don't take into consideration the huge sums raised by highway fees which are diverted from highway uses to hideous boondogles such as mass transit. The money diverted from highway user fees to non-highway uses far exceeds the non-highway taxes diverted to highway uses.

I don't know how to post a link, but try the following:

http://www.publicpurpose.com/hwy-us$93&c.htm

[Diddle E. Squat]

So then you are saying dump the existing Amtrak service and spend at minimum $11 billion(before the inevitable costs overruns associated with implementing a new technology) just to build a Pittsburgh to Philly maglev. That's a lot of money, and the Feds would be stuck with most of the costs. Because at least $2.4 of that $2.8 billion cost will be paid by the Feds($900 mil) and state and local($1.5 bil). Not exactly a strong private-sector investment total.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Why did you cut off my quote and misrepresent what I said? What you cutoff stated that maglev would require new ROW along much of its route. I've heard your footprint story before, but every foot of maglev is new infrastructure. So my previous statement is true, irregardless of whether it follows the freeway ROW(which according to the maps I have seen only does so in spots).

[Willie Green]

Because at least $2.4 of that $2.8 billion cost will be paid by the Feds($900 mil) and state and local($1.5 bil). Not exactly a strong private-sector investment total.

Since it seems you suffer from a serious form of ADD, I'll repeat this for you:

"Additional segments of the system would be financed by private and public partnerships. The system operating costs must be proven to be sufficient to support the investment costs and associated profit while in operation."

Federal funding is used to develop and prove the initial segment of this system. Subsequent segments are expected to receive a greater proportion of private investment once the costs are proven in commercial operation.

[Willie Green]

Why did you cut off my quote and misrepresent what I said? What you cutoff stated that maglev would require new ROW along much of its route. I've heard your footprint story before, but every foot of maglev is new infrastructure. So my previous statement is true, irregardless of whether it follows the freeway ROW(which according to the maps I have seen only does so in spots).

I directly answered your statement regarding rights-of-way. Most of your statement is simply pure, fallacious, obtructionist balderdash. Here is a map of the various alternative routes under consideration in Pittsburgh:

.

The majority of these routes travel primarily along existing rights-of-way. Public meetings are currently being conducted to determine which is most suitable.

[Diddle E. Squat]

No ADD, but disbelief, since investors have not been forthcoming on ANY maglev projects.

More likely the govt will build the initial segment, and then excuse its failing by stating that it will only succeed if the longer distance is built, and since we've already invested heavily in the technology, might as well build more. Its a ploy to get the foot in the door, put forth by Adtranz and Specter. When the private sector won't support it, get the Feds to do it.

[Willie Green]

No ADD, but disbelief, since investors have not been forthcoming on ANY maglev projects.

Private sector shareholders in MAGLEV, Inc. include the following:

Michael Baker Corporation
United States Steel
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation
Bombardier Transportation
Duquesne Light
CargoLifter

Is there any more misinformation that you wish to spout?

[Temple Owl]

I'm not sure of this, but I understand the Pennsylvania Turnpike was the first such highway to be built in America and was constructed, for the most part, on railroad right-of-way. Anybody know for sure?

[1Old Pro]

The rail labor division of the AFL-CIO's transportation trades department failed last week to persuade a federal judge to block release of the council's report.

Don't these same people, the DEM UNIONS, demand to see info on Cheney's private meetings and they have the nerve to attempt to block info on this???? SHEESH

[1Old Pro]

This is what we need.

What....billions in new taxes and a sytem that loses money?

[1Old Pro]

The system operating costs must be proven to be sufficient to support the investment costs and associated profit while in operation

What $500 tickets?

[Diddle E. Squat]

Ha, each one of those "investors" has simply put up some seed money in the expectations of getting fat gov't contracts for construction projects which will boost their core business. Thats closer to lobbying expenses than actual investment. Psuedo-investment. Show me a mutual fund or other investor looking for returns from operations. Betcha dollars to donuts we will never see the total costs of maglev supported by even 50% private funds(unless indemnified for loss by govt).

[Diddle E. Squat]

I believe the turnpike was constructed in the alignment of a proposed railway, but am not sure if it used actual RR-owned ROW. Early in the RR building boom, rivals to the Pennsylvania RR had scouted out a parallel route from the eastern markets of NYC and Philly to Pittsburgh, and the PRR was attempting to put together a line roughly parallel to their arch competitor New York Central's route through New York state. Some industrial and financial bigwigs(was J.P. Morgan one of them) got the NY Central and the Pennsylvania RR together for a summit of sorts and discussed how all the duplication could damage the railroad industry, and an agreement was reached to basically respect each other's territory. Hence that 2nd Harrisburg-Pittsburgh line was never built, but the turnpike pretty much follows the proposed route.

[Willie Green]

What $500 tickets?

For planning purposes, fares for this initial 47-mile segment are set at $5 at each stop. That would be $15 to ride the entire length from Greensburg to Pittsburgh Airport, $30 round trip. Much cheaper than cab, or driving and leaving your car in airport parking.

[Willie Green]

Ha, each one of those "investors" has simply put up some seed money in the expectations of getting fat gov't contracts for construction projects which will boost their core business.

Who do you expect to invest in this venture, doofus?

Krispy Kreme?

[Willie Green]

History and pictures of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and tunnels