Amtrak plan would shift to private, state control

Amtrak's money-losing passenger train service would be turned over to private operators during a six-year period, and states would decide which routes should be run, under a proposal by the Bush administration.

The plan, which would provide $900 million in funding for fiscal 2004, would eventually direct federal funds to states instead of Amtrak, Bloomberg News reported. Federal payments to cover operating losses would end after six years and states would have to pay 50 percent of capital costs such as new equipment, up from zero now.

"Our nation's current system of intercity passenger rail has failed to deliver," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said in a statement, adding states and localities must decide on rail passenger service."

The administration will send its proposal to Congress today, the statement said.

Amtrak's loss for fiscal 2002 was a record $1.2 billion, and the agency has received subsidies of more than $25 billion since it began operating in 1971. The $900 million budget is half of what Amtrak has said it needs. House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over Amtrak's federal authorization have approved $2 billion.

Amtrak President David Gunn said in a statement that the railroad "wasn't asked to work on developing the plan and hasn't been consulted." He said the railroad's ability to continue operating overshadowed debate over the new plan.

The Bush administration plan "passes the buck to the states at the moment they can least afford it," said Senate Transportation-Treasury Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash.

In remarks reported by the Associated Press, Senate Commerce Surface Transportation Subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said, "If you turn Amtrak over to the states, it's gone."

Bush's plan calls for multistate coalitions in the Northeast to take over track ownership from Amtrak during the six-year period.