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Norman Mineta: Intercity Passenger Rail News Conference, Sacramento, Calif., March 31, 2005

Good morning. I am pleased to be in Sacramento today to discuss President Bush’s plans for Amtrak, plans that will help California complete its ambitious vision of connecting downtown Los Angeles to San Francisco by rail for the first time in more than 30 years.

As a Californian, I am proud that my home state is leading the country in its commitment to passenger rail. In the last ten years alone, California has invested over one billion dollars to improve tracks, buy equipment, and modernize stations. In fact, California has invested more to improve rail travel than all other states combined.

That commitment has paid off. More people ride intercity trains in California than anywhere else outside of the Northeast Corridor. And there are even more ambitious plans for high-speed rail service up and down the state.

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 coughing up more than one billion dollars for Amtrak. And Amtrak, instead of making prudent investments in support of passenger rail service, insists on wasting these funds on routes that have long since faded from widespread use. These investment decisions leave little money to improve service along corridors where there is clear public support.

As a result, Amtrak cannot come close to matching California’s investment in rail service.

Moreover, Amtrak continues to delay desperately needed investments to make their operations more profitable and reliable.

Meanwhile, Californians give Amtrak over 27 million of their tax dollars each year to operate the San Joaquins service between Oakland and the Central Valley. And what do they get for their investment? Trains that are late more than 44 percent of the time.

And if people cannot depend on the trains to get them where they need to go, they naturally turn elsewhere, causing increased traffic on the I-5 and at the Sacramento Airport.

We have a different vision – a vision of train service that truly connects Northern and Southern California; a vision where train travel between San Francisco and LA is no longer fantasy, but reality; 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 was originally introduced in 2003, and which I will resubmit when the Congress reconvenes next week.

Our plan will breathe new life into passenger rail by providing healthy competition for better rail service, and by supporting California’s ambitious passenger rail plans 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, reliably, and safely.

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.

Under our plan, Amtrak will be able to focus on getting people to their destinations safely, 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 lines, 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 California wants service options to operate the Capitols train from Oakland to Sacramento, it can 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.

Competition also will encourage companies like Amtrak to operate their trains more efficiently. Greater efficiency means lower operating costs for trains, making it easier to break even or make a profit on a route. Competition will help reduce the need for states like California to pay significant operating subsidies for train service.

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.

All states will be eligible for federal matching grants to improve rail systems. This means that California won’t have to go it alone.

For the first time, the federal government will have a clear program established to match California’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 updated equipment. These improvements will, in turn, cut travel time and improve reliability.

Today, even where there is natural demand – between cities such as St. Louis and Kansas City, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, or Los Angeles and San Diego – due to poor service, Amtrak doesn’t sell enough tickets to cover the cost of operations. As a result, states like California that want service are forced to 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.

We want to wean Amtrak from its habit of relying on operating subsidies. And the best way to do that is to improve routes so that the operator can break even, or actually make a profit.

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 San Francisco to LA rail travel 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.

We all know that Amtrak and intercity passenger rail will die if it does not 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 legislation 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.