Durbin: House Transportation Bill wrong approach to Amtrak funding

A House transportation funding proposal would dismantle Amtrak service and stunt high-speed rail growth in spite of record ridership numbers, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said during a news conference at the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center in St. Louis, Mo. "St. Louis is one of the most important hubs in the nation's passenger rail network and Gateway Station is the anchor of that network. Residents of the St. Louis region on both sides of the river have come to rely upon Amtrak," Durbin said. "We need to maintain and grow passenger rail service-not dismantle it. People are clearly demanding more train service, yet the House bill takes us in exactly the wrong direction-eliminating the service we already have." The U.S. House of Representatives Fiscal Year 2012 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations bill, which has been passed by the THUD Appropriations Subcommittee, cuts Amtrak's operating funding by 60 percent, includes a legislative rider prohibiting Amtrak from using any federal funds to help states pay for state-supported routes and provides no money for high-speed and intercity rail projects. The U.S. Senate's FY2012 THUD Appropriations bill would maintain current funding levels for Amtrak and also includes a bipartisan, Durbin-authored amendment that would restore $100 million for high-speed and intercity passenger rail. This funding is completely eliminated in the House version of the bill. "The House of Representatives spending proposal is devastating to Amtrak in Illinois, Missouri and the entire Midwestern network. Two million passengers use Amtrak's rail service in Illinois and Missouri every year. By slashing Amtrak's operating budget by more than half and prohibiting Amtrak from helping fund state-supported routes, their bill would deliver a death blow to passenger rail service in St. Louis and hundreds of other cities and towns across the nation. These cuts will degrade our state's world-class transportation system and cost the St. Louis area good paying jobs. Stopping Amtrak service to this station would force riders to make do with fewer travel options, which means more cars on the road and more congestion," Durbin said. In addition to the Chicago to St. Louis route, the House bill would also mean elimination of the Amtrak service from Chicago to Carbondale, Milwaukee and Quincy. With Amtrak unable to provide support, Illinois would not have the funds needed to cover the shortfall and keep the routes in service. Illinois has had state-supported Amtrak service since 1972 and there are now 14 round-trip trains traveling from Chicago's Union Station to Milwaukee, Quincy, Carbondale and St. Louis, moving 1.7 million passengers each year.