Durbin slams GOP plan for Amtrak

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sharply criticized a House Republican plan to separate Amtrak’s popular rail service in the northeastern U.S. from money-losing routes in the rest of the country on Wednesday. 

The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate said Wednesday in a letter to the chairman of the upper chamber’s Transportation Committee that the plan would harm rail service in his home state, which he said historically helped finance trains in the northeast.   

{mosads}“Severing the Northeast Corridor [NEC] from the rest of America’s passenger rail network would put the popular corridor service in the Midwest, especially in Illinois, in jeopardy,” he wrote to Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.).   

“Taxpayer funds in Illinois and other Midwest states throughout the years have helped make the NEC successful and profitable,” he continued. “I am deeply concerned about this proposal and look forward to working with the Committee on a solution that ensures the health and growth of a nation-wide system.” 

Republicans in the House passed a $7.8 billion bill for Amtrak in February that would require revenue that is generated by trips in the Northeast to be used for improvements in the popular corridor in an effort to force the company to streamline its longer routes. 

Amtrak typically divides its routes into three categories: the northeast corridor, which includes trains that run between Washington, D.C. and Boston, long-distance routes that cross the country, and state-supported routes that operate mostly within states’ borders.

The House Amtrak bill, known as the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment (PRRIA) Act, provides about $982 million per year for Amtrak’s national network and another $470 million annually for its popular Northeast U.S. routes.

The measure adds a requirement that would prevent Amtrak from redistributing money that is generated from trips on the northeast to subsidize longer, less popular routes, which supporters have blamed for the company’s losses for years. 

Durbin said the requirement “could potentially harm the functionality of the overall system. 

“Without a national network, the system is at risk,” he wrote. “Each component—long-distance, state-supported, and NEC—is critical in the whole of this system, and investment in each part is the foundation of expanding a robust system.” 

Amtrak’s subsidies have hotly debated in recent years. Republicans have pushed in the past to privatize the service on its popular routes in the Northeast, arguing that nongovernment owned companies could operate trains there more efficiently.

The company has countered the criticism by pointing out that most of the money from its northeast passengers is used to maintain money-losing, long-distance routes in parts of the country that have little air service.

Since its inception in 1971, Amtrak has historically received about $1 billion per year from the government for operations and construction projects.

Republicans in the House touted the provision that would cordon off funds from the northeast route when they passed their version of the Amtrak funding bill in February.

“Passage of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act is an investment in our infrastructure that will make Amtrak operate more like a business — better responding to the needs of its customers and focusing on efficiency, transparency, and cost-saving,” Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) said then.

Amtrak said 11.6 million of its 30.9 million passengers last year took trips on trains operating in the Northeast Corridor, compared to 14.6 million on the shorter state-supported routes and 4.5 million on long-distance trains. 

Durbin said Wednesday that Amtrak service is popular in Illinois, and he said the GOP bill does not include enough funding for national rail service.  

“Five million people boarded or exited Amtrak trains in Illinois last year, with over 31 million passengers annually passing through Chicago’s Union Station,” he wrote. “Amtrak needs federal assistance to maintain and build on these recent achievements, yet the House bill reduces Amtrak’s authorized funding levels by 40 percent.

“I am concerned that the authorization levels in the House bill are insufficient and limit the potential investment in Amtrak in future years,” he added. “I encourage you to include robust authorization levels to ensure Amtrak can grow and expand across the country, especially in Illinois.”