Hotline #728
July 3, 1992
The full House Appropriations Committee approved this week the fiscal 1993 DOT appropriations bill. It has the subcommittee-passed Amtrak numbers, including just $74 million for capital -- 58% below this year's capital grant of $175 million, which was the House-passed number then, and 75% below Amtrak's 1993 request of $300 million. This is alarming. The number could become a baseline for future years, when Amtrak may face less sympathetic appropriations leaders (at least in the House). Also, $74 million could mean no visible capital program -- no exercise of options to buy more Superliners and locomotives and no Viewliner program. The new cars Amtrak would forego would be higher density and more economic than the Heritage cars they would replace. A $74 million capital program could go just to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, environmental laws, and the new agreement with the Food and Drug Administration, putting retention toilets on existing Superliners and Amfleet II cars, and fulfilling contractual commitments such as the Penn Station Joint Venture.
The committee report has some statements that cry out for rebuttal. On July 9, the 1993 DOT appropriations bill is expected to reach the House floor. Our cause will benefit if Members of Congress make floor statements of concern about the funding levels and the committee report. Floor amendments would not help; they would fail, making it harder for House conferees to agree to the higher Amtrak numbers we hope the Senate will bring to conference. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet acted. The Senate is out of session until July 21.
The report says that in May 1989, Amtrak justified the need for new equipment partly on the large number of standees on unreserved trains. Noting that estimated standees have dropped from 200,000 then to 60,000 last year, the committee called this a "significant reduction, and [60,000] represents approximately 1 standee for 365 riders."
Our response is that Amtrak is not a subway! No standees are reasonable in intercity service. Standees may be down because former standees got fed up and left Amtrak.
The committee even questioned Amtrak's claim that existing equipment is "exhausted and outdated," noting that "the percentage of total funded expense attributable to equipment maintenance has not risen appreciably from fiscal year 1988 to 1992." In fact, maintenance costs have not risen because Amtrak has not been doing needed work -- heavy overhauls are being deferred.
They are needed every three years on food cars and sleepers and every four years on coaches. Amtrak still has some Amfleet I's that have not been overhauled since 1986 and this year's tight budget forced a cut from 150 to 102 in the number of Amfleet I's scheduled for heavy overhaul. Twenty-seven Superliner sleepers have gone over three years without heavy overhaul. Some of Amtrak's F40's are nearing the three-million-mile mark and should be remanufactured.
Beyond this, the age of the Heritage fleet and the need to switch to retention plumbing by late 1996 should make the urgency of the Viewliner program obvious.
The committee tries to undercut Amtrak's argument that capital funding is needed to match or outpace depreciation. The committee says most current depreciation is in the Northeast Corridor fixed facilities, where the capital program is mostly in replacing rolling stock.
In fact, Heritage cars are already fully depreciated and thus not reflected in measures of "current" depreciation, yet these cars must be replaced soon.
The committee says it "cannot support new service at this time unless it is expected to make a near-term profit and Amtrak planning documents make it clear that new routes would be a step back in Amtrak's drive toward self-sufficiency."
But the U.S. must expand Amtrak -- and stare down some highway and air investment proposals -- to help deal with environmental, energy, and congestion problems. If this report language stands, Amtrak is likely to respond by insisting that states fully fund all costs of new 403(b) service.
The NARP office stands ready to help any Members of Congress interested in making floor statements on behalf of intercity passenger trains when the DOT appropriations bill hits the floor on July 9.