[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 76 (Wednesday, June 14, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1147-E1148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, THE JUDICIARY, 
 THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. DENNIS R. REHBERG

                               of montana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 14, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5576) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, 
     Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, 
     District of Columbia, and independent agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2007, and for other purposes:

  Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the LaTourette 
amendment. I would like to enter into the Record the following article 
from the Wall Street Journal that depicts the changes that Amtrak has 
implemented on Montana's own Empire Builder Line, the most popular long 
distance train in the United States.

             [From the Wall Street Journal, Mar. 17, 2006]

                          Amtrak on an Upgrade

                         (By Daniel Machalaba)

       Shelby, Mont.--Karyn Hamilton, like many Amtrak riders, had 
     a dim view of the nation's passenger railroad as low-class, 
     uncomfortable and not much better than a bus. But the 
     marketing director of a financial-management firm in 
     Portland, Ore., changed her mind during a trip last August on 
     the Empire Builder, an Amtrak long-distance train undergoing 
     a dramatic makeover that includes new carpeting and colors, 
     pleasant staff, and upgraded food service. As the silver, 
     diesel-powered train rolled across the prairie, Ms. Hamilton 
     and other first-class passengers were treated to a wine-and-
     cheese tasting party. They dined on meals made with recipes 
     drawn from the bygone heyday of train travel. At bedtime, she 
     found a fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookie in her spiffed-up 
     sleeping cabin. ``It's getting more like a cruise ship,'' Ms. 
     Hamilton says. After years of financial and political crisis, 
     Amtrak is making a calculated gamble: To boost revenue on its 
     longer-haul trains, the railroad is altering its 
     longstanding one-size-fits-all approach to passengers. 
     Instead, it is courting affluent leisure travelers willing 
     to pay extra for first-class, sleeping-car service. (The 
     differential is substantial. Fares vary by season and day 
     of the week, but if someone were planning to travel, for 
     example, on April 16, a one-way coach fare from Chicago to 
     Seattle would cost $134 for the two-night trip. First-
     class passengers would pay the basic coach fare plus 
     another $270 for a roomette or $466 for a bedroom.)
       The changes began with a major makeover of the Empire 
     Builder last summer. Now, Amtrak plans to extend the changes 
     to some other long-haul trains, while also attacking union 
     work rules and bloated food-service expenses. Amtrak's board 
     also is considering cuts to its headquarters overhead by 
     streamlining repair shops, maintenance operations, 
     reservation call centers and train stations.
       The shakeup is an acknowledgment by Amtrak officials that 
     they are running out of chances to stave off pressure from 
     the Bush administration to break up or even liquidate the 
     federally subsidized--and unprofitable--railroad. ``We're 
     living on borrowed time,''

[[Page E1148]]

     says David Laney, Amtrak's chairman. ``We have to demonstrate 
     what we can do on our own before it is taken out of our 
     hands.''
       Last year, the Bush administration proposed eliminating 
     subsidies to Amtrak, which has been kept afloat with $30 
     billion in federal aid since 1971, according to the 
     Department of Transportation. While Congress approved $1.3 
     billion in funding for the current fiscal year, the Bush 
     administration latest budget request includes $900 million--a 
     31% cut--for fiscal 2007. And the DOT would hold back nearly 
     half of the money until Amtrak demonstrated continued 
     progress on reform. Yesterday, Amtrak said it would ask 
     Congress for $1.598 billion for fiscal 2007, almost all the 
     increase for capital spending.
       As part of the do-or-die overhaul, Mr. Laney fired Amtrak 
     President David Gunn last November. Mr. Gunn had been widely 
     praised for stabilizing Amtrak's finances, jumpstarting 
     repairs to the Northeast Corridor and restoring credibility 
     with Congress. But Mr. Laney, a Dallas lawyer and Republican 
     loyalist appointed to the Amtrak board in 2002, concluded 
     that Mr. Gunn was standing in the way of more-drastic 
     reforms. Mr. Gunn says he was fired because he opposed the 
     Bush administration's Amtrak strategy.
       Mr. Laney says the next crucial step for Amtrak is to fix 
     some notorious customer-service problems, ranging from dirty 
     cars to unhelpful and rude onboard employees. About 30% of 
     all Amtrak trains are late. Rep. John Mica, a Republican from 
     Florida and longtime Amtrak critic, complains Amtrak can 
     ``rival some of the Third World and former Soviet Union rail 
     experiences.'' Mr. Laney acknowledges that passenger service 
     by Amtrak is ``in some cases superb and in some cases 
     miserable.''
       The restructuring likely puts Amtrak on a collision course 
     with its 17,000 unionized workers, two-thirds of whom haven't 
     had a new contract for about five years. Amtrak officials 
     estimate union restrictions cost the railroad about $100 
     million a year. Edward Wytkind, president of the AFL-CIO 
     union's Transportation Trades Department, said in a statement 
     that the Bush administration's reform effort is an attempt 
     to ``scapegoat workers for the failures of the federal 
     government and the current Amtrak board.''
       Some of Amtrak's worst problems are beyond its control. 
     Formed to relieve freight railroads of money-losing passenger 
     trains, Amtrak shares nearly 22,000 miles of track with the 
     freight trains, and congestion is worsening. Still, Amtrak 
     believes better service will lure riders and shrink losses on 
     long-distance lines. On long-distance routes that are 
     primarily used by passengers for basic transportation, 
     starting with the Texas Eagle and the City of New Orleans, 
     the railroad is rolling out a new type of dining service that 
     makes greater use of precooked meals and introduces 
     disposable plastic plates. Those changes are designed to cut 
     the number of dining-car employees to three per train from 
     five or six.
       Meanwhile, Amtrak is replacing mandatory meal-serving 
     periods with more flexible hours. Over the next few years, it 
     plans to rebuild dining cars to replace traditional table 
     seating and allow passengers to sit at the bar or watch 
     passing scenery from crescent-shaped booths that face the 
     windows. Meal service will then be available as much as 18 
     hours a day, up from about eight hours now, allowing Amtrak 
     to serve more people and boost revenue. Amtrak hopes to cut 
     $32 million from its annual food-service loss of $123 
     million.
       The Empire Builder is the rolling laboratory for some of 
     the changes. The train, which made its first trip in 1929, is 
     one of Amtrak's most popular, carrying nearly 500,000 riders 
     a year. During the daily 2,200-mile trek between Chicago, 
     Seattle and Portland, Ore., the Empire Builder chugs past 
     spectacular scenery. Its on-time record is about 68%, and it 
     posted an average loss of $78.57 per passenger in the fiscal 
     year ended Sept. 30.
       While the Empire Builder is so far sticking with the 
     traditional dining-car format, staffing level and made-to-
     order food, its added amenities and upgraded service are 
     noticeable. Amtrak put a small fleet of rebuilt passenger 
     cars with hip blue-and-white interiors on the line--a big 
     improvement over the drab orange and brown that dominated 
     older cars. Employees now must introduce themselves to 
     passengers. Conductors must stay up all night in the dining 
     car in case they are needed.
       So far, the Empire Builder makeover appears to be enticing 
     more passengers, particularly during the off-season when 
     ridership typically declines. But David Hughes, Amtrak's 
     acting president, says it is impossible to ever make long-
     distance trains like the Empire Builder profitable. Those 
     trains are expected to generate $382 million in fiscal 2006, 
     or about one-fourth of overall Amtrak revenue, but post 
     losses of more than $493 million, or about $125 for every 
     passenger.

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