October 31, 2008 (AP) — After half a century as more of a curiosity than a
convenience, passenger trains are getting back on track in some parts of the
country.
The high cost of energy, coupled with congestion on highways
and at airports, is drawing travelers back to trains not only for commuting but
also for travel between cities as much as 500 miles apart.
Transportation officials are pushing a plan to connect
cities in nine states in a hub-and-spoke system centered in Chicago.
Californians are considering selling billions of dollars
worth of bonds to get going on an 800-mile system of bullet trains that could
zip along at 200 miles per hour, linking San Francisco and San Diego and the
cities in between.
- The public is way
ahead of policymakers in recognizing trains as an attractive alternative to
cars and planes, said Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "I think we're at a
transformational point in intercity passenger rail service," said Oberstar,
D-Minn.
Amtrak, the passenger rail service that struggled for years
to attract riders, drew a record 28.7 million in the year ending Sept. 30. That
is 11 percent more than the year before and the sixth straight year that
ridership has increased. Ticket revenue hit a record $1.7 billion, a $200
million increase from a year earlier.
Rail travel is gaining greater favor in Congress, which
provides the subsidies needed to keep Amtrak rolling. Lawmakers are trying to
find ways to deal with high energy prices, congested and aging roads and
bridges, and an air traffic control system that relies largely on World War
II-era technology.
In the Midwest, expansion of the passenger rail network is
supported by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Some cities that would be in the network have passenger
train service to Chicago — Obama's hometown — but it is often slow and
infrequent. The regional plan calls for using 3,000 miles of existing rail
rights of way and introducing modern train cars and engines operating at speeds
up to 110 mph.
Obama's transportation plan pledges support for Amtrak and
calls for development of high-speed rail networks across the country as a means
to conserve energy and boost the economy.
Congress passed legislation this month that sets a goal of
providing $13 billion over five years to Amtrak; it's a major vote of confidence
for the railroad. The measure also encourages development of high-speed rail
corridors and contains $2 billion in grants to states to enhance or introduce
new service between cities. The money still must be appropriated.
President Bush, an Amtrak critic who has opposed anything
more than minimal money for the rail service over the past eight years, signed
the bill Oct. 16.
Obama's Republican opponent, John McCain, has been a
persistent critic of Amtrak's reliance on subsidies. Obama co-sponsored the
recent Amtrak bill; McCain voted against it.
With the economy in crisis and credit tightening, rail
supporters acknowledge there is uncertainty in securing all the money,
especially when competing with highway and aviation lobbies for any additional
transportation dollars.
Congress has "a lot of mouths to feed on the transportation
side," said Joe McHugh, Amtrak's vice president for government affairs.
Unlike Europeans, whose cities are connected by passenger
rail networks, relatively few Americans travel by rail except in the popular
corridor from Washington to Boston, in parts of California, and routes extending
from Chicago. Outside the Northeast, ticket fares usually do not cover direct
operating costs.
Critics say it is unfair to require people in areas where
there is no Amtrak service or infrequent service to subsidize the train travel
of people in the few corridors where there is frequent, fast service.
"I do not think you can justify many, perhaps most, of the
routes Amtrak is running," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said during Senate debate
last month. "Fundamentally, the romantic view that we are going to have some
sort of major international rail system does not seem to be realistic."
Still, some states are pushing for more and better passenger
train service. In California, voters will decide Tuesday whether to launch the
most ambitious rail project undertaken by any state. The ballot measure would
authorize nearly $10 billion in bonds to pay for planning and construction.
Proponents say a high-speed rail system could help reduce
congestion at California airports, lessen dependence on foreign oil and decrease
greenhouse gases. Critics say the state could be forced to raise taxes to pay
off the bonds, and the money would be better invested in urban transit systems
and highway construction.
Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., said higher gas prices and concern
about dependence on foreign oil have made people more willing to invest in
passenger rail.
"There is an appetite for city-to-city rail," Rendell told
reporters recently. "Why should we be different than any other country in the
world? You go to Europe and you can't get an airplane to a city less than 200
miles away."