Amtrak Wants to Expand Across the Nation. Local Politics Might Intervene.

Source: New York Times

Amtrak Wants to Expand Across the Nation. Local Politics Might Intervene.

Extending nationwide service has been an elusive goal for Amtrak. Since 1971 — when the publicly funded, privately operated rail agency was created — routes have largely remained unchanged.

By Pranshu Verma
March 6, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON — Over the past few years, Amtrak’s plans for expansion have stirred the politics of some communities across the South, and complicated the rail agency’s attempt to bolster passenger service in the region.

The former chief port executive of Mobile, Ala., Jimmy Lyons, said he was “scared to death” that Amtrak might take jobs away from the port, as the national rail system seeks to expand a stretch of track from the city to New Orleans for passenger travel. A city councilman, Joel Daves, said any city money spent toward expanding rail service in the Gulf Coast corridor was simply funding a “joy ride for the affluent.”

Despite the opposition, the city’s plans to greenlight the expansion are underway, and congressional lawmakers, including Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, have backed the development. But Amtrak officials and rail experts said there were lessons to be learned from the tensions in Mobile, which may replay across the country as Amtrak tries to significantly expand passenger train service nationwide by 2035.

“I think it’s always a challenge,” Stephen Gardner, the president of Amtrak, said in an interview. “We do have to have a robust engagement. We’ve got to be able to tell the story of how services like these work, and point to places where we’ve had big success.”

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In the fall, Amtrak officials released details on its nationwide expansion efforts, which would cost $25 billion and take 15 years to complete. The vision was centered on creating corridors — similar to the highly trafficked segment between Boston and Washington — all across the country.

The goal, officials said, is to create rail offerings in areas where there are dense clusters of population and passengers looking for an alternative to airplanes for trips under 400 miles. Achieving this, they added, would help Amtrak achieve profitability and adapt its network to where the American population is growing.

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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/us/amtrak-route-expansion.html