Without Congressional action over the next several months, our national rail passenger system - Amtrak - is in danger of being liquidated. Strained Amtrak finances are reeling under the weight of additional terrorism-related expenses, and without an infusion of cash by the U.S. Congress most long-distance inter-city train service could end by October 1st. In recent years the federal government has provided Amtrak with annual subsidies of $521 million dollars. Without a significant increase in this operating subsidy it is likely that Amtrak will end inter-city rail service this fall, maintaining rail service only in the northeast, the Chicago region, and two areas on the west coast.
Amtrak has faced political opposition ever since its inception, but the financial situation today has deteriorated to the point where the end of long-distance service is a distinct possibility. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta - the one Democrat on Bush’s Cabinet - has publicly referred to Amtrak’s inter-city service as "unnecessary."; The so-called Amtrak "Reform Council"; has provided few useful recommendations, even going so far as to advocate the "privatization" of several Amtrak components. Forgotten is the fact that Amtrak was created out of the wreckage of dozens of private railroad companies that had no interest in providing unprofitable rail passenger service. Also ignored are the massive government subsidies doled out every year to the airline and inter-city bus industries.
The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) is leading the campaign to save Amtrak from the political and corporate forces who want to destroy it. Please visit their web site at www.narprail.org for background information, updates, how to contact your lawmakers, and a convenient downloadable leaflet to distribute. The NARP web site is also decorated with a photo of an Amtrak passenger locomotive, assembled by the hard-working members of UE Locals 506 and 618 in Erie, Pennsylvania.