Word: rails
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...strike, it will involve severe repercussions for transit systems throughout the Northeast, and any resolution will almost certainly require a government bailout. Such a scenario would highlight two striking problems with the current state of Amtrak—namely, the inefficiency of its control over major commuter rail stations and its inability to become financially self-sufficient...
First, the victims of an Amtrak strike are more likely to be commuter rail passengers than Amtrak ones. Today, ownership and operational control of major stations are in the hands of Amtrak, despite the fact that local transportation authorities generally account for many more passengers. This holds true for South Station in Boston and Pennsylvania Station in New York. Rather than permit the Amtrak to cripple these daily commuters, operational control of big stations should be transferred from Amtrak to local transportation authorities. Why should an Amtrak strike shut down all of South Station, victimizing travelers in Massachusetts Bay Transportation...
...increases in revenue this year, Amtrak, which has been the beneficiary of rising gasoline costs and long lines at airports, may never be able to operate without federal subsidies. Given its permanent state of dependence, the federal government should cease prolonging Amtrak’s operational control of intercity rail services and instead allow competing firms to bid on rights to operate passenger trains on corridors of their choosing a strategy the MBTA employs successfully for its commuter rails...
Regrettably, the federal government seems unlikely to pursue such a course: In October, the Senate voted to increase Amtrak subsidies while revoking the stipulation that Amtrak strive for fiscal self-sufficiency. Were the government to privatize the tracks, however, demand would determine which rail corridors were worth keeping open. Though some rural lines that suffer from low ridership may be cut, so too would the inefficiencies that plague the current system. And if tracks were up for bid, firms that performed poorly could be replaced when their contracts expired...
Whether or not the ongoing contract dispute devolves into a strike on Jan. 30, this quagmire will have served to remind us that a substantive overhaul of Amtrak is long overdue. The American rail system lags far behind its counterparts in Western Europe and Japan, and it will not catch up anytime soon if Congress insists on simply continuing to subsidize the lackluster and stagnating rail system...