Daily Egyptian
The Bush administration has agreed to help get Amtrak the $200 million it needs keep itself from derailing into financial debt, and, at least for now, the deal will keep the train in Carbondale running the track.
The Transportation Department will provide Amtrak with a $100 million loan, and Amtrak will ask Congress to appropriate the remaining half the business needs to pull itself from the red.
The Bush administration will check up on Amtrak in August, and the government likely will provide them the funds to operate until Oct. 1, the end of its fiscal year.
With this short-term fix, Carbondale's station will stay open.
The decision, however, that will have a more lasting effect on Carbondale and the University is the current debate between the White House and Congress about the future of Amtrak.
Reading between the lines of Bush talk, it looks as if he might suggest a move to chop up and privatize the business.
This could forever stop the trains in every Small Town, USA.
Currently, Amtrak is heavily subsidized by the government, allowing it to keep stations in towns that may not turn a profit or that even add extra costs. Although Amtrak is a private company, the government helps keep it running because the railroads are considered an important part of the national infrastructure.
If Amtrak is sliced into several private companies, the generated competition will make profits the bottom line. In the transition, small cities that don't bring in the money will be shut down indefinitely.
More than 65,000 people ride an Amtrak daily, with most business centered in the Boston, New York and Washington areas. On average, only 237 passengers daily take the Chicago-Carbondale route.
Carbondale is not a major profit maker for Amtrak. While there is not concrete evidence to suggest that Carbondale's line would be cut, a little common business sense will tell you it's likely one to be considered.
All Aboard!
If this train's leaving town, there will be a large number of students leaving the University with it.
Of the 20,000 SIUC students on campus last year, nearly 5,500 of them came from Cook County and the surrounding areas, according to the SIU Office of Admissions and Records. For many students, the train is their sole transportation back and forth from their home in Chicago to Carbondale.
For a University already struggling with enrollment numbers, Amtrak's departure would further push the student population into the negative.
While we agree that competition in business is typically a positive feature of a capitalistic, democratic society, the effects of privatizing Amtrak would be an unfair blow to small towns like Carbondale.
The country should invest in railroads.
Each year, we spend $33 billion on highways and bridges, $14 billion on airports for bailout packages and other subsidies and only $500 million on our passenger train service.
It's time the federal government gets on track with its train service spending and says no to the slicing and dicing of Amtrak that would force stations closed in small towns.
To paraphrase a famous little engine: We think you can.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
