As Washington dithers, Gunn presses forward - Transit Update

Railway Age, Oct, 2003

"I am not going to stop the progress we are making while policy makers continue to dither about Amtrak," President and CEO David Gunn told employees last month as Congress considered Fiscal Year 2004 funding. "So while these 'grand policy debates' about reforming Amtrak go on in Washington do not get distracted because the real reform, the most meaningful reform at Amtrak, is what each and every one of us is doing to bring it back to a state of good repair."

Amtrak's FY 2004 appropriation is expected to be hammered out in conference committee by mid-November. The amount will probably fall somewhere between the $1.35 billion set by the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the $900 million set by the House Appropriation Committee (the amount requested by the Bush Administration) as part of a FY 04 Transportation/Treasury Appropriations bill. While the House amount is final, it was possible that the Senate amount would be increased on the Senate floor prior to sending the bill into conference. Late last month, Amtrak officials were expressing hope that its supporters in the Senate would come through.

Anything short of $1.8 billion, Gunn said "will [not] allow us to complete the first year of our capital plan and to continue operation of the existing national system," as well as repay a $100 million DOT RRIF loan. "Where we end up is anyone's guess," he said. "If fully funded, at the end of five years, our railroad will be at a state of good repair. In other words, whatever the difference is between our request and what Congress finally appropriates to Amtrak will determine what does or does not get done next year--or, if we're funded at the House Appropriations level, whether we continue to operate." At $900 million, said Gunn, Amtrak would eventually run out of cash, forcing another shutdown crisis.

"Since I came to Amtrak, I have made a number of changes to the organization to get us back to a more traditional railroad," said Gunn. "As a result of these changes and tighter financial management, we have been able to bring some stability. However, our infrastructure and equipment is in such dire need of repair and investment that on any given day something could fail--as it already has--and large parts of the system could be shut down or the necessary consists for trains could not be met. We cannot go on like this. We cannot be forced to limp along each year hoping just to make it to the end. We have got to fix the railroad and bring it up to a state of good repair so that we do not have to worry each and every day if we are to do what is expected of us. The capital plan does that."

Gunn touted some of the progress that's been made. "Beech Grove . . . is producing rebuilt cars for the first time in many years," he said. "The production lines at Bear and Wilmington, in terms of wreck repair, are ahead of schedule and below budget. By the end of September, the track laying machine will have rebuilt nearly 40 miles of high speed rail [on the Northeast Corridor]."

Most of these projects have been fixes to immediate problems--getting sorely-needed equipment back in service, basic trackwork to maintain NEC operating speeds. Meeting long-term capital needs would require funding at the $1.8 billion level. At $1.35 billion (which Gunn called "encouraging"), Vice President-Government Affairs Joe McHugh told Railway Age, Amtrak would still be limping along.

One thing Amtrak has in its favor is a lot of support in Congress. Senate Transportation/ Treasury Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) intended to fund Amtrak at $900 million, but before the bill went to the full Appropriations Committee, Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) were able to increase the amount to $1.35 billion, with repayment of the RRIF loan deferred for another year. Meanwhile, in the House, Rep. Jack Quinn (R-N.Y.) introduced an amendment to increase Amtrak funding to $1.8 billion. He was joined by Reps. Mike Castle (R-Del.), John Sweeney (R-N.Y.), and Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.). However, no vote was taken, and Quinn's amendment was withdrawn. A similar amendment offered by Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.) would have increased funding to $1.4 billion, but was also withdrawn.

There will not be an Amtrak reauthorization bill this year. Nor will there be TEA-21 reauthorization; a five-month extension of existing TEA-21 legislation is likely to be enacted.