Op-Ed: Let’s Stop Amtrak From Adding Routes Few Want

This was originally published by Real Clear Markets on February 17, 2022.

Despite considerable hype and a Presidential cheerleader, passenger train routes have been derailed by runaway costs and disappointing ridership. Save for a few high-density routes such as Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, these taxpayer-funded services tend to lose significantly more money than they rake in and benefit predominately high-income individuals. Before the pandemic kicked into full gear, only 11 out of 45 Amtrak’s routes were showing a profit.

But that hasn’t deterred Amtrak from asking policymakers to throw taxpayer dollars and support behind new routes bound to attract little interest from passengers. As part of its effort to begin a new service with two daily round trips between Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana, Amtrak wants to use existing freight lines to start up this new service this year regardless of whether the infrastructure is ready for it or if existing freight service will be impacted. Rather than doubling-down on another rail boondoggle, policymakers should use those taxpayer dollars to give much-needed relief to overburdened taxpayers. It’s time for federal and state finances to get back on track.

Ever since Hurricane Katrina ended Amtrak service in the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2005, there’s been talk about resurrecting the route along America’s southern shore. Expectations weren’t tempered, though, even after a 2015 feasibility study by Amtrak concluded that the taxpayer-funded rail corporation would lose $4 million annually on a roundtrip, standalone route from Mobile and New Orleans. And, that conservative figure didn’t include the inevitable costs required to refurbish passenger stations along the way, maintain an acceptable service level, and alleviate the unintended consequences of the increased congestion in the region that would be brought by new passenger rail trains running along the cost. This last category of cost is particularly important because the renewed rail line would almost certainly disrupt freight operations in the region at a time of historic supply chain backlogs we are only beginning to dig out.

A newer study looking at the impact to the region was reportedly near completion in 2020 when Amtrak pulled out of the study and filed litigation with the federal regulators trying to force the new service to move forward.  The impacted freight rail companies, CSX and NS, completed a new study last year that found that without new infrastructure improvements there will be significant and immediate impairment to freight service in the region, yetAmtrak is to begin this service without implementing those improvements.

According to a report by Trains Magazine’s Bob Johnston, the potentially cataclysmic disruption to supply chains is already causing a row at the Surface Transportation Board (STB), which will hear testimony this month to “ determine the rights and obligations of host railroads in granting access over routes that currently don’t have passenger service.” The STB’s decision in the matter is likely to be precedent setting in that it could enable Amtrak to start new service around the country without first paying for the infrastructure to ensure our supply chain isn’t adversely affected. The inevitable displacement of economic activity in this situation could be understandable if there was a large, pent-up demand for passenger rail services between the two southern cities.

But I-10 (the interstate highway that runs parallel to the Gulf shoreline) is no I-95 (the interstate highway that runs along the East Coast) and driving between the two cities seldom takes longer than two-and-a-half hours. For those not keen on driving, bus companies such as Megabus and Greyhound regularly offer intercity tickets under $25 – far cheaper than any Amtrak ticket would be. And unlike a rail route, bus services carry no prospect of disrupting critical freight rail hauls. While there are currently no non-stop flights between the two cities, both Mobile and New Orleans have airports for facilitating such services if the demand arises in the future.

Mississippi does currently have a couple of Amtrak routes running through it, with trains connecting New York City, New Orleans, and Chicago. But Amtrak ridership on these routes boarding and detraining in Mississippi increased by less than 5 percent from 2011 to 2019, trailing the state’s growth in median income. There hasn’t been much of an appetite for increased rail service to New Orleans, with passengers citing train delays and freight issues as the main causes of consumer weariness. These issues will likely plague any route from Mobile to New Orleans, resulting in a rail trip that is considerably longer and more expensive than any road trip.

In an age of renewed pork-barrel politics, it’s tempting for lawmakers and agency officials to champion newly built rail stations servicing niftily named Amtrak lines. But, new passenger rail between most cities simply doesn’t make sense. In the best-case scenario, rail service along the Mississippi Gulf Coast would “only” result in poorer taxpayers footing the bill for the travel habits of their wealthier neighbors. A more realistic turn of events will result in the displacement of freight operations and a worsening of shortages for key products that people rely on. Let’s lighten the load on taxpayers by rejecting this off-the-rails proposal.

David Williams is the president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.