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Emer Notes:Amtrak Is Sending The Wrong Message To CongressMarch
29, 2002 has come and gone. What is the significance of this date?
I guess there is none. It was supposed to be the day that Amtrak
President and CEO George Warrington would send formal discontinuance notices to
Congress that 18 long-distance trains would be cut if Amtrak was not guaranteed
funding of $1.2 billion for the next fiscal year, an amount more than double the
$521 million that Bush has offered. Amtrak is required to give 6 months notice
before cutting service. Amtrak wasn't guaranteed the funding and George
Warrington, who resigned from his post but is still the acting president, didn't
make a single threat on that date. As Amtrak's incredible $5.8 billion backlog
on train, station and track repairs increased, Amtrak's management remained
silent. Then, 7 days later, Amtrak
President George Warrington who is still working for a few more months said,
“If funding falls below Amtrak’s budget, it is likely that certain trains
will be discontinued,” a much less harsh statement than his February 2
announcement. The next day, he backed off from the threat citing he saw
"signs" that Congress would increase funding. Amtrak Vice Chairman
Michael Dukakis, the former governor of Massachusetts, agreed. He said, “My
sense is that there’s now a sense of urgency in Congress that wasn’t there
before.”
Warrington's
retraction was a mistake. While I would never have wanted Amtrak service to be
cut, Warrington should have sent in the notices to Congress to cut the trains so
that Congress would have been forced to act. His initial threat had effect
because Sen. Charles Schumer D-N.Y., said, "These difficult measures should
send a message to Congress that the time to get serious about passenger rail has
arrived."
However,
Amtrak lost credibility when it backed away from its threats because it made
politicians realize that Warrington was bluffing and wasn't going to cut
service.
"Signs"
and "senses" that legislation will be passed are not the same as
action and Amtrak has put its future and the future of passenger rail in America
on the line by not making this distinction. Warrington should already know there
is a difference. Last summer, he said that he had "secured" the votes
needed to pass the High-Speed Rail Investment Act, which is an act designed to
give $12 billion towards the building of new high-speed rail corridors across
the country. Since that time, the legislation has remained stalled.
If Amtrak is ever going to receive substantial funding, it needs leaders who will stick to their convictions and not send false messages to Congress. Hopefully, Warrington's successor, David Gunn, will realize this and unlike his predecessor will be able to secure the funding Amtrak needs and deserves. |
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