Missouri running up debt for Amtrak trains

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri is running up a debt with the federal government for running Amtrak passenger train service between St. Louis and Kansas City.

Officials from the Missouri Department of Transportation predict the state will owe Amtrak about $2.9 million by the end of the next fiscal year.

Missouri uses state tax dollars to subsidize the twice-daily train service between the state’s two largest cities. But MoDOT officials say the state’s subsidy has fallen short of covering its full costs in recent years, and will continue to do so next year unless lawmakers authorize more spending.

The state transportation agency says ridership on the Amtrak route increased from about 164,000 in the 2010 fiscal year to about 191,000 passengers last year.

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JCLifer 1 year, 3 months ago

This is only $15 per passenger.

Sounds like the state needs to cut the funding and AMTRAK needs to raise it's ticket prices by $15. What is the problem?

WillieGreen 1 year, 3 months ago

Production of airline and automotive and airline fuels is shifting from traditional petroleum resources to economically inferior "unconventional" resources, such as the Canadian tar-sands that we have ignored for many decades.

As this long-term macroeconomic trend continues, rising fuel costs will drive up the market demand for fuel-efficient intercity passenger rail. This trend is already in evidence by the record increase in Amtrak ridership over the last 6~7 years.

Under these market conditions, the proper way to reduce and eventually eliminate state subsidies for passenger rail service is to continue investment in service upgrades until ridership levels surpass the "break even point" and becomes competitively self-sustaining.

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