Among many, many other awful things the Trump budget proposes ending all of Amtrak’s long distance trains and completely ending all service to over 25 states. In fact, the effect of the Trump plan will be to reduce Amtrak to only one route, Boston to Washington, DC. The current budget retains the west coast routes and corridors like Chicago-St. Louis or DC to Norfolk but if the current cuts are implemented it is the end of passenger rail in the USA except on a part of the east coast. Once killed, rail lines rarely come back and without the synergies of a national system Amtrak might not even keep the DC to Boston route viable.
The ironic thing is that even with the old tracks, the old equipment and long delayed capital projects, Amtrak ridership is up. Way up. Every year, the federal subsidies for Amtrak go down although state subsidies for routes in places like Vermont, upstate New York and Missouri are an increasingly large part of the Amtrak system.
One of Amtrak’s iconic routes is the Empire Builder, travels the length of Montana en route from Chicago to Seattle. Another train, the Cardinal, from NY to Chicago, travels through rural Virginia and the length of West Virginia with stops in Kentucky and Indiana too. Trump’s cuts will end all serivce in west and central Virginia — places like Staunton, Culpeper and Clifton Forge.
One would think that Democrats would support Amtrak and many will. However, over the last few months I’ve contacted the offices of Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and two candidates for Governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam and Tom Perrillo. I received polite responses from each “Thank you for your comments and please give me money or come to a campaign event...blah..blah” but nobody will say that they will fight the Trump cuts. Note esp. to Sen. Manchin, it didn’t hurt Sen. Robert C. Byrd to keep the Cardinal going, he did pretty damm well in West Virginia back in the day.
Trump’s apologists will spin the tale that Amtrak is just a plaything for rich elitists who take the Acela from DC to Manhatten. Heck, killing Amtrak will save less than the cost of eliminating the estate tax for one freaking family, the Koch family. The truth, however, is that ending Amtrak will cost tens of thousands of jobs most of which are in rural America. Democrats need to stand up for these jobs and for the tourism industry.