Political Quotes

“I had hoped to deal with just the notion that somehow Amtrak had promised that it was going to turn a profit. I sat in committees and watched people browbeat the previous administration; but what people made clear is that it was going to be necessary to fund the capital requirements of Amtrak. There is a planned infrastructure improvement over 5 years, reconstructing interlockings; installation of almost a million concrete ties to improve efficiency; 423 miles of track undercutting; new rail, 352 miles; rebuilding of major bridges; cable signal replacement. These are things that will improve the efficiency of the operation. Congress has never fully funded the capital requirements, making it inherently inefficient and chipping away at it. The Amtrak administration has requested a reasonable capital budget to be able to move it forward to meet the mandate that Members of Congress had for more efficiency. I would respectfully suggest when we look at the funding that we lavish on the capital for airlines, what we do for highways, only a portion of which comes from the user fee, that we are selling this important element short at a time when, if we would enhance it, it would actually reduce demand on the roads. We would also reduce demand in congested airports when now a third of our flights are 350 miles or less. We are not thinking this through in a proper fashion.”