May 5, 2002 By Bryan O'Keefe For The 4 min read

For Eva Kuhns and other local train travelers, it could be the end of the line. Aboard Amtrak’s Capitol Limited train headed from Washington, D.C., to Connellsville, the lifelong Connellsville resident said she was stunned to hear that the run could be eliminated in the near future.

“I don’t know what I would do without it,’ said Kuhns, a frequent Amtrak traveler. “I just love this train. I don’t have an automobile and most of the highways are full of trucks, anyway.

“I really hope they would never do something like that.”

Her pleas could fall on deaf ears, though, as Amtrak, faced with escalating costs and enormous debts, has proposed a reorganization plan that could close stations in Connellsville, Greensburg, and Pittsburgh, making train rides a part of local history.

Created in 1971, Amtrak is a federally subsidized corporation designed to provide passenger rail service from coast to coast and alleviate the burden of carrying passengers that was previously placed on freight trains. It’s the nation’s only passenger rail carrier.

However, Amtrak has never fully operated according to plan. The company has failed to turn a profit in its more than 30 years of existence. Debts continue to mount by the millions every year, and train service is often criticized as being inefficient due to long delays and labor problems.

In a massive reorganization plan announced in February, Amtrak asked Congress to more than double its current budget, a move Amtrak says could solve many of its problems. In the same plan, Amtrak warned that if Congress denies this funding, it would implement deep cuts in train service across the nation, including the closure of all stations in western Pennsylvania. Under this scenario, train service to Fayette County would almost certainly end.

A third Amtrak reform plan also has been proposed by the Amtrak Reform Council, a separate group commissioned by Congress to study the Amtrak problem. In its recent report, the council suggested that the company be disbanded and replaced by a new corporation that would handle track and station maintenance.

The actual task of providing train service eventually would be bid out to private companies, promoting a system similar to the one provided by airlines and airports.

The future of train service in Fayette County under this plan remains uncertain, but it appears that train service would at least stop while this system would be implemented, a task that could take many years.

For its part, Amtrak strongly opposes both service cuts and privatization plans and instead contends that with proper government funding, train service could be a viable form of transportation.

“We don’t want to see any discontinuance of service,” said Amtrak’s Kevin Johnson, who added that Amtrak would like to see the Connellsville station remain open.

The question of government funding seems to be a key part of the Amtrak debate. Amtrak claims that many of its current problems – from high debts to train delays – are a product of under-funding from Congress.

According to the National Association of Railroad Passengers, the federal government spends $33 billion a year on highways and $13 billion a year on aviation but spends only $570 million for an entire coast-to-coast passenger rail service.

When adjusted for inflation, funding has actually decreased since Amtrak’s incorporation in 1971 by nearly a third.

Under its reorganization plan, Amtrak estimates that if its funding was boosted to $1.2 billion, it could continue services.

Without these funds, Amtrak is committed to closing train operations across the country and providing service only to profitable routes between Washington, D.C., New York and Boston.

Meanwhile, debate continues in Congress over the future of Amtrak. U.S. Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-South Carolina) recently noted during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing that his bill, which is aimed at supporting the entire system, now has 25 co-sponsors.

However, Sen. John McCain, (R-Arizona) the committee’s ranking member, maintained his opposition to passenger trains outside the Northeast Corridor and perhaps the West Coast.

Hollings and McCain both criticized Deputy Transportation Secretary Michael Jackson for the lack of a specific passenger train plan from the Bush administration.

Without getting into specifics, Jackson said changes are needed.

“We need to change the behavior and the structure that has produced Amtrak’s fiscal problems,’ he said. “We’re not prepared to commit to a specific dollar amount. The president needs to review the significant economic costs of this need.”