Proposed long-distance cuts would spell end to national rail system

WASHINGTON - Travelers no longer could get on a train in the Northeast and connect all the way to California, or board in Florida and reach the Pacific Northwest if Amtrak goes ahead with threatened cuts to long-distance trains.

Amtrak officials have compiled a tentative list of 18 long-distance routes that could be cut this fall unless the government drastically increases the money it spends on passenger rail.

Among them: the "Sunset Limited" between Orlando, Fla., and Los Angeles; the "Southwest Chief" between Chicago and Los Angeles; the "Silver Service" linking New York to Miami, and the "City of New Orleans," connecting Chicago and New Orleans.

The scaled-back passenger train network would consist primarily of several lines in the Northeast, the Auto Train between Virginia and Florida, connections between Chicago and other Midwest cities, and a number of routes inside California.

Amtrak officials emphasized the list of targeted routes is preliminary and subject to change. But if the cuts come to fruition, they would mark a drastic restructuring of the nation's passenger rail system.

Since transcontinental service began in 1869, "there has never been a time when you couldn't go coast to coast by rail," said Bruce Richardson, president of United Rail Passenger Alliance, which supports the long-distance routes.

Amtrak said Friday it will cancel long-distance routes unless it receives $1.2 billion in the 2003 budget year, which begins in October. The draft list of 18 routes are those that Amtrak says meet the definition of long-distance.

The budget proposal released Monday by the Bush administration calls for $521 million for Amtrak -- the same amount as the last three years. White House budget director Mitchell Daniels said it is premature to discuss additional funding for Amtrak until Congress and the administration decide how to restructure it.

He noted that the congressionally appointed Amtrak Reform Council will release a report Thursday recommending that the government break up the railroad and open passenger rail to competition.

In its budget message, the Bush administration said Amtrak is in "desperate financial condition." It pledged to work with Congress on "a cost-effective, financially stable system that can help meet the public's travel needs."

Amtrak is required by law to give 180 days' notice before it discontinues train service. Amtrak will issue such a notice covering the long-distance network by March 29, reserving the authority to cut routes in October, when the new fiscal year begins.

"It kills any of us on the board to have to propose this," said Michael Dukakis, chairman of Amtrak's governing board and former governor of Massachusetts. "We believe in a national rail passenger system, and to discontinue (long-distance routes) would be a terrible mistake."

But Dukakis said, "It's time to stop kidding ourselves" about the amount of money needed to run the system. He noted roughly $160 million is needed each year just to pay benefits for rail industry retirees.

Some of the routes on the tentative target list travel through the back yards of powerful figures on Capitol Hill, including Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

Most routes not on the list are in the Northeast -- Amtrak's most successful region -- or are operated under cost-sharing agreements between Amtrak and states.

The latter category includes the "Carolinian," from Charlotte, N.C., to New York City; the "Cascades," connecting Oregon and Washington to British Columbia; California's "Capitol Corridor," "Pacific Surfliner" and "San Joaquins;" routes linking Chicago to Kansas City, Detroit and Milwaukee; and the "Heartland Flyer" between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, Texas.

Amtrak's decision to target long-haul trains is no surprise. The General Accounting Office in 1998, and the Amtrak Reform Council this year, found long-distance trains to be Amtrak's biggest money-losers.

Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth Mead reported last month that Amtrak's intercity business unit, which includes most long-distance trains, saw ridership drop in 2001, even as the Northeast Corridor and Amtrak West posted gains.