Bush Budget Reduces Amtrak

"Robert Poole, a transportation policy expert who has advised the Bush administration, suggests eliminating the long-haul lines, leaving only the more heavily traveled short-haul corridors where the company has a chance to break even on an operating basis.

"While Amtrak has many advocates in Congress, the fight could bring echoes of last year's presidential battle, with some of the carrier's strongest support likely to come from Democratic-leaning, heavily urbanized regions on both coasts that depend most heavily on intercity service...

Amtrak has long been a favorite target of conservatives who believe the system is a poor use of taxpayer dollars and should be restructured or eliminated....Even in Britain and other European countries where passenger rail service is far more integral to the overall transportation network, privatization efforts have met with mixed results at best.

Robert Poole, a transportation policy expert who has advised the Bush administration, said the time has come to fundamentally rethink the need for passenger rail service in much of the nation."