Subject: Lawmaker wants to put Amtrak service up for bid
From: "Michael Muldoon" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 27 May 2011 09:26:51 -0400

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   - MAY 26, 2011, 6:38 P.M. ET

  Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Congress would take away Amtrak's popular Northeast corridor
train service and invite private investors to bid for the right to develop
high-speed rail under a plan outlined by a key House Republican on Thursday.

The densely populated corridor — which extends from Washington to Boston,
including service to New York City and Philadelphia — is the most viable
region in the country for truly high-speed trains averaging speeds better
than 110 mph, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman
John Mica, R-Fla., said.

But Amtrak has failed to provide fast service despite tens of billions of
dollars in federal aid, he said while outlining his plan at a hearing.

Amtrak's Acela trains reach speeds over 150 mph in some portions of the
corridor. But Mica said trip times average only 83 mph between Washington
and New York and 72 mph between New York and Boston. His calculations
include wait times at station stops along the route, which lowers the
average speed. Some trains in Europe and Asia achieve speeds over 200 mph.

Last year, Amtrak proposed a plan to upgrade its Northeast corridor track
and trains and to eliminate bottlenecks so that trains can travel up to 220
mph. Trip time between Washington and New York would be reduced to 96
minutes and between New York and Boston to 93 minutes. But the plan would be
phased in over 30 years and cost $117 billion to implement. The railroad is
seeking private investment to pay for some of the cost.

That's not good enough, said Mica, a longtime Amtrak critic. He wants to
take away the rail company's 363 miles of track and infrastructure, place it
under the control of the Transportation Department or a new
government-created corporation, and solicit bids from private investors for
the development, operation and maintenance of high speed service.

The plan will be incorporated in a long-term transportation spending bill
the committee is drafting and expects to introduce around mid-June, Mica
said.

"I believe that we have great potential in the Northeast corridor," Mica
said. "The only thing standing in the way is Amtrak or the federal
government or Congress."

Amtrak is a private corporation, but it depends on federal subsidies.

Mica "wants private investment to take the (Northeast corridor) away from
Amtrak," Steve Kulm, a spokesman for the railroad, said in an email. "We
want private investment and keep Amtrak ownership of the (corridor). ... Two
different ways to achieve the same outcome."

Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., chairman of the House Transportation highway
subcommittee, said Mica's plan probably has enough support from Republicans
to pass the House, but it is unlikely to be accepted by the Senate.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., a leading Amtrak supporter, warned in
testimony at the hearing that potential Northeast corridor investors will
want a profit, which means ticket prices would likely increase.

Mica's plan "hasn't begun to get any legs to stand on as I see it," he told
reporters afterward. He said the plan would amount to a "death potion" for
the transportation spending bill, which pays for highway and transit
construction.

Amtrak was created by Congress in 1971 to provide passenger train service
between cities after passenger railroads failed in the face of competition
from airlines and interstate highway travel. But with the U.S. population
expected to exceed 400 million people by 2050, nightmarish congestion is
forecast for the nation's already crowded highways and airports.

President Barack Obama has said he wants to put high-speed intercity trains
within reach of 80 percent of the American public by 2025, but he has run up
against resistance from Republican governors and members of Congress who say
the nation can't afford the cost.

-- 
Mike Muldoon
Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC
1010 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Suite 705
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-1880
[email-masked]