The Amtrak Reform Council will propose today to restructure Amtrak into three smaller companies, which might eventually result in Oregon and Washington states creating a more efficient Northwest railway system.
However, the 137,00 rail passengers leaving Eugene yearly — many of whom are University students choosing a cheap method to travel along the west coast — will not see any changes until the bill passes through the U.S. House and the Senate.
The restructuring proposal, which the reform council will present to Congress today, would essentially break the company into three entities: A government-run corporation to continue operating railways between Washington, D.C., and Boston; a second train-operating agency to manage Amtrak’s other railways; and a federal oversight committee to monitor all U.S. railways.
“I think people have finally realized the emperor has no clothes, and Amtrak cannot provide the kind of service people want,” said Dave Chapman, a Seattle-based member of the Amtrak Reform Council, which oversees the company’s budget.
Congress formed the Amtrak Reform Council to find a way to make the company financially self-sufficient. Amtrak currently holds a government-granted national monopoly on intercity rail service, and the proposal comes on the heels of the company’s announcement that it lost $1.1 billion last year.
Amtrak officials believe the dual responsibility of providing national rail service and making profit is impossible, according to spokeswoman Deirdre O’Sullivan.
Lloyd Flem, the executive director of the Washington Association of Rail Passengers, said a radical restructuring may not be necessary. He said Amtrak leadership has made poor decisions in the past, and he supports “some measure” of restructuring, but “not significant changes.” He said the restructuring proposal has only become necessary because the government does not spend enough money on rail systems.
“We’ve virtually starved our passenger rail system in the past 40 or 50 years,” he said. “Getting money for the rail system is like pulling teeth without Novocain.”
Under the proposal, the federal oversight committee could open railways outside the Washington, D.C.-to-Boston corridor to other entities, including state governments and private corporations. Chapman said he hopes Oregon and Washington will jointly create a Northwest rail system.
Rail service use in the Northwest has steadily increased in the past two years. In 2001, Eugene saw a nearly 50 percent increase from 1999, partly because of the addition of two routes, according to the Washington association. In the Northwest, 16 percent more people rode rails in 2001 than in 1999.
Washington and Oregon already contribute funds to Amtrak’s western railroads, and if they create a new rail system they could offer incentives to freight companies to lay more railroad tracks. The extra tracks would free existing ones for passenger service, Chapman said.