Passenger Rail Is Not Dead Yet

[TexasTowelie]

Capitol Hill grudgingly funds Amtrak, and now the rail operator may have to compete with private-sector companies for federal dollars.


The rail-haters never quit. On Wednesday, columnist George Will trotted out one of his familiar jeremiads against the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak. From Will’s perspective, Amtrak leeches taxpayer dollars, few people ride it, the airlines are greener, it gets priority over freight rail, and so on—bashing Amtrak never gets old.

It’s not news that Amtrak, a quasi-public entity, depends on government subsidies. American train enthusiasts salivate over Western European rail, where subsidies for public transportation are higher, because taxes are and people pay them. Which is why Western Europeans have great train service and Americans do not.

But in some American cities, rail is prized, despite the assumption that neither cities nor mass transit were supposed to survive the pandemic. Short hops that do not involve navigating stop-and-go traffic or merit flying are sparking plenty of interest from travelers interested in sustainability and staying off the roads—if the crowds returning to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) trains are any indication. Amtrak ridership currently is more than 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

There’s always been interest in passenger rail on Capitol Hill from both sides of the aisle. The dream of high-speed rail (HSR) remains elusive, undone by the implosion of California’s ambitious high-speed rail plan, which set the national debate about train travel back years. Democratic members of Congress are major supporters of regional networks like NEC that connect urban cores. Republicans work overtime to introduce or maintain stops in rural locales, where Amtrak is public transportation disguised as scenic long-distance travel trips for vacationers. That’s good enough to preserve Amtrak as a nationwide service, but barely.

Read more: https://prospect.org/infrastructure/building-back-america/passenger-rail-not-dead-yet-amtrak-funding/
(American Prospect)