Lawmaker wants to put Amtrak service up for bid

[May 27, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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 Thursday.

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

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.

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 Department of Transportation or a new government-created corporation, and solicit bids from private investors for the development, operation and maintenance of high speed service.

The plan in 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."

Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., chairman of the 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 afterwards. He said the plan would amount to a "death potion" for the transportation spending bill, which pays for highway and transit construction.

Amtrak is a private corporation, but it depends on federal subsidies. Amtrak is in debt to the federal government for about $4 billlion.

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.

[Associated Press; By JOAN LOWY]

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