Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I support Amtrak and believe we can have a viable national passenger rail system. Unfortunately, we are far from…”

“I support Amtrak and believe we can have a viable national passenger rail system. Unfortunately, we are far from realizing that goal. Outside the Northeast Corridor (NEC), trains seldom run on time, and service is abysmal. Lateness is often measured in days, not hours. Several years ago, when the airlines on-time rate fell below 75 percent it was considered a national emergency. At Amtrak, on-time records under 50 percent are business as usual. Rail critics point to low ridership as the reason why we starve the national system. I contend that starvation is the reason for low ridership. In the Northeast, a passenger can board a train here at Union Station and reasonably expect to be in New York City, about 225 miles away, in less than three hours. If one of my constituents buy a ticket from Austin to Fort Worth, a trip thirty-eight miles shorter than DC to New York, the best he can expect is that it will take four and one-half hours. Of course, the Texas Eagle makes its schedule only 35 percent of the time, so my constituent will likely waste even more time on this short trip. An Austin businessman may prefer not to deal with airport hassles for such a short flight, and he may want to avoid the traffic on I-35, but the train is not a reasonable option if he has a meeting in fort worth at a time certain. This inequity cannot continue.”