[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         AN UPGRADE FOR AMTRAK

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, while driving back from our home in 
southern Illinois to Washington, DC, my wife and I stayed overnight in 
West Virginia and picked up the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, WV on 
Monday, January 3, 1994. In it was an editorial on Amtrak that makes so 
much sense, I thought my colleagues in the House and Senate should have 
the opportunity to see it.
  It points out, among other things, that in 1981, passenger fares of 
Amtrak covered only 48 percent of their operating costs, and today it 
is 80 percent.
  Amtrak is a huge success.
  It should be continued, invested in, and further developed.
  At this point, I ask to insert into the Record the editorial from the 
Herald-Dispatch:

          [From the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, Jan. 3, 1994]

                         An Upgrade for Amtrak

       ``The operation was a success--but the patient died.'' That 
     old line comes to mind in reviewing the latest financial 
     statement from Amtrak, the government-owned rail passenger 
     system.
       Amtrak has increased its passenger load and cut its 
     operating costs. As a result, there's been a steady decrease 
     in the subsidy it must ask from Congress each year. In 1981, 
     passenger fares covered only 48 percent of Amtrak's operating 
     costs. Now that figure is 80 percent. Amtrak officials say 
     the day is not far off when it can operate self-sufficiently.
       But there's a big ``if'' in that forecast.
       Despite its improving revenue picture, Amtrak needs a 
     massive infusion of money to replace its aging equipment. 
     More than half its passenger cars are more than 40 years old. 
     Keeping them in repair and in service is a constant, costly 
     headache. Its stations and repair yards also need modernized.
       Amtrak President Thomas Downs puts the case bluntly: ``You 
     have to invest in the capital plant, or this railroad will 
     simply die as we know it.''
       Last year, Amtrak trains--including The Cardinal, which 
     links Chicago and Washington, D.C., via Huntington--carried 
     21 million passengers. That's a heckuva lot of folks to leave 
     standing at the station. Uncle Sam clearly needs to modernize 
     Amtrak's fleet.

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