National Journal article: How Washington derailed Amtrak

[jis]

It is going to be interesting to see the effect of Amtrak not having a free hand to pick and choose what projects to do or not on the NEC. This is a responsibility that has clearly been taken away from Amtrak and placed squarely in the court of the NEC Commission. So while on the one hand more money will be forthcoming through the increased contributions from the Commuter System users of the NEC, how and where that money is spent will also be determined by the Commission and not by Amtrak. I am just waiting to see how all this plays out after the dust settles.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Sounds like its getting close to the time for Joe Boardman to hang up his Amtrak hat and become a high priced consultant for rail interests!

"Make some real money!" as they say in Washington! He's definitely showing that he's NEC Joe and not Amtrak Joe!

 

[neroden]

I am not at all sure there will be increased contributions from the commuter system operators.

Amtrak has funding problems. But it's nothing compared to the funding problems SEPTA faced until last year; and SEPTA has more deferred maintenance than Amtrak. (SEPTA finally has stable funding now.) MBTA also has more deferred maintenance than Amtrak, and was "born broke" (as a report on the MBTA finances says). MARC also runs on a shoestring. In response to any formula which would increase their payments to Amtrak, I would expect these agencies to cut service on the Amtrak lines in order to cut their charges. MARC in particular could shift service to the Camden line if Amtrak asks for too much money.

Metro-North, of course, owns its trackage and will end up charging *Amtrak* more.

LIRR is captive but doesn't use much of Amtrak's tracks.

NJT is also captive and would be forced to pay any higher charges... but NJT is extremely weak and under attack from the governor's office (again). They might end up cutting service systemwide if charges go up.

I see nothing good coming from this attempt to get more money out of the commuter operators. They don't *have* the money.

 

[dlagrua]

The bottom line is that more money follows the revenue potential. NEC has it right now.

There seems to be little concern for the people that live along and rely upon the LD lines going through the small towns. Many of which have poor road connections and/or are a far distance from the airports. Maybe one day we will have a political system where the politicians will be voting for the interests of the American people and not for corporate America, the banks or Wall Street that own them.