Passenger rail service in Michigan could become extinct if President
Bush succeeds with a plan to eliminate a $1.2 billion federal subsidy
for Amtrak. The rail service that would be cut includes three Wolverine
Amtrak trains that now make daily round trips among Pontiac, Detroit
and Chicago, making stops in Birmingham and Royal Oak. The same fate
would hold true for the Pere Marquette train that makes a round trip
daily between Grand Rapids and Chicago and the Blue Water train that
makes a round trip daily among Port Huron, East Lansing and Chicago.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said the budget was designed to
get Amtrak to make needed reforms. "After 34 years of Amtrak operating
losses and $29 billion in taxpayer subsidies, it's clear that the
current model of passenger rail service is flawed and unsustainable,"
Mineta said. "The president's budget this year is a call to action." In
his budget, released this week, Bush proposed eliminating Amtrak's
operating subsidy and setting aside $360 million to run trains along
the Northeast Corridor if the railroad ceases operating. Amtrak is
getting $1.2 billion this year in operating subsidies and capital
investment. The White House predicts that, without subsidies, "Amtrak
would quickly enter bankruptcy, which would likely lead to the
elimination of inefficient operations and the reorganization of the
railroad through bankruptcy procedures." David Gunn, who took over as
Amtrak's president nearly three years ago, has cut costs but not enough
to stem the railroad's annual loss of more than $500 million. Gunn
called the Bush budget plan "irresponsible and a surprising
disappointment." The proposed cut in Amtrak funding comes following a
year when a record 25 million passengers rode Amtrak trains nationwide
during the 2004 fiscal year, up 4.3 percent from the 24 million
passengers who rode the train the year before. [more]