Jun 24, 2014
In this bonus episode, we look into the state of passenger rail service in the United States by examining the history and current condition of Amtrak, the only choice for passenger rail service in the nation.
The United States has a third world passenger rail
transportation system. There's no denying it. There is only one
company, Amtrak, that operates nationwide. Amtrak train cars are
decades old, the employees are over-worked, and it's incredibly
unreliable. But why is that the case? How can we do better?
Passenger rail service is a worthy investment for the United States
government. Trains consume far less energy than
our other available modes of transportation: Passenger trains
consume 17% less energy than airplanes and 21% less energy than
cars. Passenger trains also burn far less carbon dioxide: The
average intercity passenger train burns 50% less carbon dioxide per
passenger mile than an airplane and 60% less than cars. Rail
transportation is also a safe mode of transportation, especially
when compared to cars; automobile accidents kill an average of
33,000 Americans every year
compared to an average of ten deaths caused by accidents
on passenger trains. [caption id="attachment_1443"
align="aligncenter" width="598"]
Automobiles kill 33,000 in the US
every year. Trains kill 10.[/caption] But if passenger trains are
such a good investment, why is the United States system so behind
other countries? It wasn't always this way. In the 1920’s, more
than 1,000 companies operated on a network of 380,000 miles of
track in the United States. 1.27 billion passengers traveled on the
United States' rail network every year, at a time when our
population was much less than it is today. However, in the 1970’s,
after the interstate highway system was completed and air travel
became affordable for the middle class, the private railroads
didn’t find passenger trains to be as profitable as freight and
they wanted to eliminate passenger services entirely. The
government agreed to take over the passenger service that the
private sector didn’t want to provide for their own financial
reasons. Amtrak was created in 1971 as a quasi public-private
entity to provide public rail transportation service nationwide.
Amtrak was a compromise between the members of Congress who wanted
to keep a passenger rail system in the United States and the Nixon
administration, who wanted passenger rail to disappear. In the deal
that created Amtrak, the private railroad companies would no longer
have to provide passenger services but they would have to provide
Amtrak with start-up cash and equipment. The private railroads
would maintain ownership of the infrastructure - the railraod
tracks - but they would not be allowed to deny Amtrak the right to
use them. The only place in the United States where the private
railroad companies do not own the infrastructure is in the
Northeast Corridor, between Boston and Washington D.C., which just
so happens to be the area of the country with the best and most
reliable passenger rail service in the country. However, Amtrak is
responsible for maintaining the infrastructure; as a result, about
75% of Amtrak's budget goes towards maintaining the Northeast
Corridor. Amtrak was given two mandates. The first was to provide a
nationwide passenger rail service. The second was to turn a profit.
While turning a profit is a worthy goal, no passenger rail service
in the world is currently profitable even in countries where the
passenger train company is not responsible for maintaining the rail
infrastructure. The situation got worse for Amtrak in the 1980's
due to the Staggers Act, which deregulated the railroad industry.
As a result, railroad companies gobbled each other up in mergers
and ripped out even more tracks. Since the 1960’s, almost half of
the countries’ rail infrastructure has been abandoned or removed.
Today, the vast majority of the country’s remaining railroad tracks
are controlled by only four companies: BNSF, CSX Transportation,
Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific. Bills Discussed in
This Episode Amtrak has been starved of funding since it’s
creation, a problem that continues today. Amtrak needs about $5
billion just to maintain old bridges, tunnels, and walls in the
Northeast Corridor, the only section of the country where Amtrak
owns the tracks it runs on. H.R. 4745, the transportation funding bill for
fiscal year 2015 which passed the House of Representatives on June
10, would not authorize that money, nor much else for operations in
other parts of the country. H.R. 4745: The Transportation, Housing and Urban
Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for
2015
- Provides over $15 billion in Federal subsidies for the aviation industry.
- Provides over $40 billion in Federal subsidies for the highway trust fund.
- Provides $1.2 billion in Federal subsidies for Amtrak. Amtrak is also authorized to borrow $5.6 billion.
In addition, H.R. 4745 contains some outright fiscal
attacks on Amtrak's ability to function.
- An amendment submitted by Rep. Phil Gingrey of Georgia defunds food and beverage service on Amtrak trains.
- An amendment submitted by Rep. Jeff Denham of California defunds California's high speed rail project.
- An amendment submitted by Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas eliminates the Sunset Limited, the only Amtrak route that runs between Los Angeles and New Orleans.
There is hope, however. H.R. 4745 needs to be merged with the Senate version. There is still time to remove the Amtrak attacks. More importantly, the multi-year transportation bill known as MAP-21 is set to expire on September 30, 2014, right before the 2014 midterm elections. If we want passenger rail service investments in the United States, now is the perfect time to demand them. Representatives Quoted in This Episode (In Order of Appearance)
- Rep. John Mica of Florida
- Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland
- Rep. Larry Bucshon of Indiana
- Rep. Laura Richardson of California
- Rep. Ed Pastor of Arizona
- Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas
Sources of Information for the Episode Music Presented in This Episode Slow Train by Bradley West (found on Music Alley by mevio) Intro and Exit Music: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) New Podcast You Might Enjoy Critical Thinking is Required, hosted by James Sirois