Senator Clinton Vows to Continue Fight to Save Amtrak

Senator Clinton Vows to Continue Fight to Save Amtrak

Senator says President's Budget cuts would destroy Amtrak

Washington, DC -- Following the Senate Republicans' rejection of an amendment to provide $1.4 billion in funding to help save Amtrak from bankruptcy and shut down, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today vowed to continue fighting to save the nation's rail system and called upon state and local officials to join in keeping the White House from destroying Amtrak. The Byrd-Clinton Amendment sought to prevent millions of New Yorkers and Americans from being stranded without a national rail service. The President's current budget completely eliminates federal funding for Amtrak.

"I am extremely disappointed and outraged by the vote today. The Republican leadership and the Administration seem determined to bring our nation's rail service to a standstill," Senator Clinton said. "No country in the world has ever developed and maintained a successful passenger railroad system without assistance from their national government. We will continue to fight for Amtrak's financial solvency, because without this funding, Amtrak's trains will stop."

Senator Clinton joined a bi-partisan group of Senate colleagues and a broad coalition of business and labor organizations, local officials and the environmental community, at a press conference at Union Station in Washington, DC, yesterday, calling on Congress and President Bush to restore Amtrak's funding.

"The future for New York without Amtrak would be devastating," Senator Clinton said. "Amtrak is an essential component of our transportation network that provides irreplaceable capacity and mobility to New York and the nation."

"The President's proposal would leave millions of New Yorkers and Americans standing on empty station platforms," Senator Clinton said. "If it were up to this President, Amtrak would change its motto from 'All Aboard' to 'Everyone Off'."

New Yorkers rely on rail more than perhaps any other state in the nation. Penn Station on 34th Street in Manhattan is the busiest passenger rail station in the United States - almost 9 million passengers boarded Amtrak trains there in 2004. Albany-Rensselaer station is the 10th busiest in the country, and much of the upstate economy depends on access to Amtrak through Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse.

New York also contains the busiest commuter rail system in the country. Much of this system would be forced to shut down if Amtrak received no funding. The effect of the Administration's elimination of Amtrak would mean the paralysis of Metro-North, the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit.

An Amtrak shutdown would also drive New York highways and airports into chaos. Amtrak accounts for 50% of the Washington, DC to New York travel market and 35% of the Boston to New York travel market. These passengers would have to seek alternate routes on highways and at airports that are already overcrowded. The result would severely hurt the Northeast region's economy, and it would potentially cripple our entire regional transportation system.

President Bush proposed zero dollars for Amtrak's operating subsidy in his 2005 budget. The President's budget claims to provide only enough funding to allow for continued operation of the commuter railroads that depend upon Amtrak in the event of an Amtrak shutdown. A shutdown is the only plausible scenario if no funding is provided, according to Amtrak CEO David Gunn.

Amtrak has been attempting to bring its infrastructure up to a state of good repair under leadership of David Gunn, who successfully turned around the New York City subway system through a similar strategy. Amtrak owns the Northeast Corridor, which has never been adequately funded or maintained since the federal government was forced to take it over from the failing private railroads more than 30 years ago.

Last year, Senator Clinton supported $1.8 billion for Amtrak operations and Congress provided just over $1.2 billion for operational and capital costs. Amtrak's five-year Strategic Plan, which was approved by Amtrak's Board of Directors on June 10, 2004, specifies that approximately $1.8 billion would be required for fiscal year 2006.

http://clinton.senate.gov/~clinton/news/2005/2005317557.html