The restructuring proposals put forth in the report are radical, unnecessary and could cause more harm than good to the cause of intercity rail passenger service. It's time to stop the globetrotting and reports and give Amtrak a genuine chance to be a world class passenger rail operation by providing a real, sustained federal financial commitment to our national passenger railroad. One investment measure that has wide bipartisan support is the High Speed Rail Investment Act. We had hoped that the ARC would have realized the innovation behind this legislation and believe the Council missed an opportunity by failing to join in support of this bill. For all the global jet-setting ARC members did at taxpayers' expense, you would think they would have noticed that no nation in the world allows its intercity passenger rail service to wither on the vine.
Every nation subsidizes passenger rail to ensure it can deliver first class transportation services.
From their globe-trotting journeys, we would have hoped that ARC members understand that other countries, particularly England, are reeling from the dire consequences of privatization including the degradation of safety and service. Instead, the ARC majority would steer America down that road as well. Clearly, Amtrak and its 20,000 employees are at a crossroads. Long-term and sustainable financing, not ideologically driven proposals to break up Amtrak, will ensure a strong and viable national passenger rail system. The ARC should heed that call or cease to exist.