Amtrak, the federally backed US passenger railway, faces a possible dismemberment as its post-crisis flirtation with fame has faded to a reality of costs outpacing revenues.
The vast influx of passengers afraid to fly has been smaller than hoped and was in any case not large enough to support the costs of a nationwide rail system. By early January, a federal panel founded to save the passenger line had concluded that it was incapable of self-sufficiency and should be split up, possibly into regional units or into a franchising entity selling the Amtrak name and the right to offer passenger service.
That future, set forth by the Amtrak Reform Council, could become a reality in as little as five years. If that scenario sounds familiar to UK travellers, it should, and so should the UK experience of rail chaos, warns National Association of Railroad Passengers executive director Ross Capon. The parallels are frightening, he says. Congress, which has repeatedly saved Amtrak through continued subsidy, could still stave off this future of parts, and has already used budgetary procedures to put it off for at least a year.
But the threat has sent Amtrak scrambling, and one of the first results of that scramble is a deal between Amtrak and Continental Airlines for codesharing on many Amtrak routes on the crowded northeast line feeding Continental's Newark hub. This airport has had direct rail links with Amtrak's highest speed line since last year. The four-year pact, set to begin in mid-March, is a strong bid by Continental to lure passengers away from the other New York City airports such as Kennedy, home of the rapidly growing JetBlue Airways.
Further rail-airport links would be possible under an Amtrak breakup because states or cities would likely take over ownership of the actual tracks and stations. Because states have priority for federal highway funds for intermodal projects such as rail-air links, they could advance such projects as proposed hookups between an Amtrak line serving Chicago and the Milwaukee airport to the north. However, widespread political and labour union support for Amtrak may block any fundamental changes to the 30-year-old passenger rail system.
Source: Airline Business
