Rumors Benefit Amtrak

Recently, the Wall Street Journal published a lengthy article claiming that Amtrak had a “plan” to end most or all long-distance trains. The article offered very little evidence other than oblique statements by Amtrak’s CEO, Richard Anderson. The only official statement from Amtrak quoted in the article stated that the company was “rethinking” its network but was not “prepared to announce any plans or recommendations yet.”

A week later, the Seattle Times repeated these rumors, again without any evidence except for the WSJ article. I guess no one should be surprised when rumors and speculation get reported (and re-reported) as news, but it is still disappointing.

The best evidence for what Amtrak thinks of long-distance trains comes not from off-the-cuff statements by its CEO but from what it is actually doing on the rails. The day after the Seattle Times article, Amtrak announced it would provide matching funds to help rehabilitate tracks used by the Southwest Chief, indicating it is committed to maintaining long-distance service.

The Southwest Chief is not Amtrak’s biggest money loser, but it was the most at-risk long-distance train because Amtrak’s once-daily trains are the only trains that use about 280 miles between La Junta, Colorado and Lamy, New Mexico. Although the tracks are owned by BNSF, the railroad uses a different route for its freight trains and so Amtrak must pay to keep the tracks in suitable condition for passenger trains.
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Last year, Anderson suggested replacing the trains with buses on that segment, which produced a major backlash even though only about 175 people ride that segment each day. The Wall Street Journal article was probably a result of that backlash, and Amtrak’s decision to fund maintenance of the New Mexico route is probably a defensive response to that article.

Anderson may have been an airline executive prior to taking the Amtrak job, but he’s not totally ignorant of the political world. He must realize that, though the long-distance trains carry only about 15 percent of Amtrak’s passengers, they gain support of about half the members of Congress since those are the only trains serving nearly half the states.

The Antiplanner wonders why the Wall Street Journal, which nominally opposes heavily subsidized state-owned corporations, end up publishing an article that indirectly supported (by promoting a backlash) one such corporation. Whatever the answer, it seems unlikely that Congress is going to end subsidies to Amtrak any time soon or that Amtrak will willingly make itself politically less viable by ending service to many states.