REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL
NEWS CONFERENCE

DETROIT, MI
MARCH 24, 2005
Good morning. I am pleased to be in Detroit today to discuss the Bush Administration’s plans for Amtrak – plans that will help complete the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative by creating a meaningful federal-state partnership for rail travel in America.

I had the opportunity to go over those plans this morning with Richard Harnish, the executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association. Let me just say that, as the Secretary of Transportation, I am excited by the growing enthusiasm for passenger rail here in Michigan and across the Midwest.

And I believe that the federal government ought to be doing more to help. Unfortunately, with the broken system that we have today, we cannot.

Every year, the taxpayers have been anteing up more than one billion dollars for Amtrak.
And Amtrak, instead of making prudent investments in support of passenger rail service, insists on using these funds for routes that have long since faded from use. These investment decisions leave little money to improve service along corridors where there is such clear public support. As a result, the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative and similar innovative approaches to intercity passenger rail around the country are starved for funding.

Moreover, Amtrak continues to delay desperately needed maintenance of the infrastructure that it already owns. This neglect leads to unreliable service and unacceptably slow travel times between places like Detroit and Chicago. Two out of every five trains on the Wolverine line arrived late last year – and that was the best performance among Amtrak’s passenger lines serving Michigan.

And if people cannot depend on the trains to get them where they need to go, they naturally turn elsewhere, causing increased traffic on I-94 and at Metro Airport.

We have a different vision – a vision where travel by train from Detroit to Chicago is fast, efficient, and reliable; a vision where a vibrant and viable passenger rail network connects Midwesterners and links them to business and educational opportunities throughout the region; and a vision where competition and a new federal-state partnership are building a stronger rail network and attracting new riders in thriving markets across the country.

This vision is at the core of our Passenger Rail Investment Reform Act, which I will submit when the Congress reconvenes during the week of April 4th.

Our plan will breathe new life into passenger rail by leveling the playing field, providing healthy competition for better rail service, and supporting the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative by creating a true federal-state partnership for investing in improved passenger rail service.

Under our plan, Amtrak will focus on its primary mission – running trains on time.

Today, Amtrak is a dispatching company, a real estate business, a track repair firm, and a reservation system. If Amtrak were in the aviation business instead of passenger rail, it would be assuming the role of airline, travel agency, airport, and the FAA all rolled into one.

Our plan fixes that by freeing Amtrak from having to worry about a hot dog stand that is late on its rent or a commuter train that is off schedule.

Under our plan, Amtrak will be able to focus on getting people to their destinations comfortably and reliably.

We accomplish this by transferring the tracks and stations owned by Amtrak today to state and local control. Commuter trains constitute the majority of traffic on Amtrak’s tracks, so it just makes sense to put state and local officials in charge of the tracks and stations that are so vital to their economies.

Our plan introduces healthy competition for passenger rail service. Today, Amtrak may in fact be America’s last monopoly. Right now, if Michigan wants service options to operate the Blue Water train from Port Huron to East Lansing, it can only choose Amtrak or… Amtrak.

Our plan will instead allow states to choose who runs their intercity trains.

Imagine how service would be revitalized if states could truly shop for the best intercity rail service for their money.

Amtrak will compete with private companies and public operators to run routes. And this healthy competition will give Amtrak incentives to run the trains on time, to keep them clean, and to provide better service.

And under our plan, the Department of Transportation will continue to invest in passenger rail. But instead of handing the taxpayers’ money to a company in Washington, D.C., we will partner with states so that investments are made in repairing, rebuilding, and improving the Nation’s networks of tracks, tunnels, bridges, and stations.

Under our plan, all states will be eligible for federal matching grants to improve rail systems. This means that Michigan won’t have to go it alone.

I know that the state has already invested tens of millions of dollars to improve tracks, signals, stations, and equipment. Under our plan, for the first time, the federal government will have a clear program established to match Michigan’s – and other states’ – investments dollar for dollar.

These capital grants are the key to revitalizing passenger rail travel in America. Our grants will give the states a powerful incentive to invest in better tracks and more reliable equipment. These improvements will cut travel time and improve reliability.

Today, even where there is natural demand – between cities like St. Louis and Kansas City, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and Grand Rapids and Chicago – Amtrak does not sell enough tickets to cover the cost of operations. As a result, states like Michigan that want service pay Amtrak an operating subsidy.

When the Nation’s tracks are maintained, when they can handle state-of-the-art passenger train service, when service is reliable, then ridership will increase, making trains more popular and more profitable and decreasing the need for operating subsidies.

Even with all of these positive features to improve rail service under our plan, there are still those who claim that the President and I are out to kill Amtrak.

I have a message for these critics: Stop writing press releases and start reading our plan.

Read about how we will save Amtrak; make the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative a reality; and create, for the first time, a meaningful federal-state partnership for passenger rail travel.

And I have a message for the millions of Americans who use Amtrak – and the many millions more who would take the train if it were faster, more reliable, and more responsive to travelers’ needs.

This is my message: We all know that Amtrak and intercity passenger rail will die if it doesn’t get help… and soon. Join us in finding a solution. Bring your ideas to the table. Let’s work together, using our bill as the starting point.

I will work night and day to convince the Congress to pass the reform that is so vital to saving Amtrak and putting passenger rail travel back on track in America.

Thank you.

Now, before I leave, I would be happy to answer a few questions.