Related Articles

Proposals on Capitol Hill

May 2002 IBEW Journal

McCains legislation proposes a radical restructuring of Amtrak. His bill would authorize a total of $4.6 billion from 2003 to 2006, with $1.3 billion going to Amtrak in 2003. The measure would also restructure and streamline Amtrak, eliminate unprofitable routes and help privatize the rail service.

Amtraks supporters say the McCain bill is a train to nowhere.

This is do or die time here, Cobb said. If people opposed to Amtrak are successful, Amtrak as we know it wont be there.

Although the Bush administration has not offered a plan of its own, it has indicated it does not support the current Amtrak structure and would like to explore ways to involve private sector competition in passenger rail service. Amtrak receives a paltry $521 million for next year in President Bushs proposed budget, which if passed by Congress would likely eliminate Amtraks long-distance network and cost 7,000 workers their jobs.

In the House of Representatives, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has sponsored legislation focusing on the development of high-speed rail lines. Young, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman, has expressed little faith in Amtrak.

Cobb said the IBEW supports the development of high-speed rail network but not at the expense of Amtrak. The IBEW has always supported high-speed rail but that will take a long time to build. In the meantime, we have to save Amtrak, he said.

Regional politics play into the debate over Amtrak. The only areas of the country where Amtrak is considered successful are the Northeast Corridor, from Washington, D.C. through Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City to Boston, and southern California between Los Angeles and San Diego. Amtrak has recently introduced high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor, where the train trip between Washington D.C. and New York City is down to 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Between the two coasts lies the large expanse of continental United States, where passenger train service is slow, scattered and intermittent and operates on tracks owned by rail freight companies.  As a result, passenger trains are given second priority to freight trains and Amtrak trains often run behind schedule. McCains stance on Amtrak no doubt derives from Arizonas landlocked location.

He comes from a place where the train only comes three times a week and if it disappeared, not many people would notice or care, Banks said.

Former Amtrak President George Warrington said Amtrak may cut 18 long-distance routes if it does not get at least $1.2 billion in the fiscal year beginning on October 1. Contributing to Amtraks problem is the upheaval in the upper reaches of its leadership. Warrington resigned in March and the search is on for another president.  The IBEWs Cobb and other representatives of rail labor met with the new Amtrak board chairman, John Robert Smith. Cobb said he is cautiously optimistic about Amtraks prospects under Smith, who told them of his hopes for Amtrak reauthorization.

He said he didnt want to be captain of the Titanic, Cobb said. I think he is sincere.

Next | Previous

All Aboard | Railroad Get Shortchanged | IBEW's Stake in the Fight
Proposals on Capital Hill | Railroad Retirement Ramifications