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CNN Live At Daybreak

Trains Could be Alternative to Shuttle Flights

Aired June 24, 2002 - 06:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The new Amtrak president says if the federal government doesn't guarantee $200 million in loans, he'll stop accepting passengers and start moving trains into storage this week. That statement is being met with mixed reviews from Congress. Legislators in the Northeast, where trains are more popular, say such a move would be disastrous. But House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert says it is time for Amtrak reform.

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REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, the Amtrak situation is something that we need to take a look at. I think there needs to be reforms, some reforms in Amtrak. When a passenger from New Orleans to Los Angeles is subsidized, that ticket is subsidized over $300, that person can fly on an airplane a lot quicker and in maybe a more efficient way.

So we need to look at what the costs are and how we can cut some of those costs.

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COSTELLO: Amtrak says it needs the $200 million to close a budget gap. An emergency meeting has been set for today by the Federal Railroad Administration to discuss how the government can help.

Many other countries manage to keep their trains rolling, so why not here?

CNN's Bruce Morton has some thoughts on that.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To your left and up the stairs, please.

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The federal government has unveiled another plan for Amtrak, something it does every so often. Maybe it'll be partly private, maybe a role for the states, what will Congress do with it? Who knows?

The interesting thing is that the United States hasn't bothered much with trains for the last 50 years and it probably should have. Over short distances, they're better than airplanes. Go to France and ride the TGV trains, tres bonne vitesse (ph), or very great speed, they go something like 175 miles an hour. Italy has similar fast trains. So does Japan. So trips of 200 or 300 miles, Rome to Florence, Tokyo to Kyoto and so on, are train trips. Here we have air shuttles between Boston and New York and Washington. But if we had the road beds to allow really fast trains -- we don't -- no one would fly such short distances with cab rides to and from the airports, we'd take the train from center city to center city.

Even with our relatively slow trains, Amtrak from Washington to New York is only a little shorter than the shuttle. It pretty much comes down to how bad the traffic is to or from LaGuardia.

If the U.S. had good road beds, all sorts of trips -- Chicago to Milwaukee or Detroit, Cleveland to Columbus or Cincinnati, whatever -- would be train trips. This would ease airport congestion, make air travel easier because there'd be fewer bags and passengers to search, and so on.

We don't have good road beds because the highway builders have always had a good lobby. So have the car makers. So have the oil companies. So have the airlines and airports, which, of course, are subsidized. So has the trucking industry.

(on camera): In a politics driven by money, as American politics is, it's no wonder they've done well, while passenger rail travel has done badly.

(voice-over): But with fear of terrorism making air travel more time consuming than it used to be, it's a shame we have neglected the passenger trains. They're a good way to go short distances. And, to confess a prejudice up front, I've always liked the way that lonesome whistle blows.

Steam was better, of course, but today's make a pretty good noise.

I'm Bruce Morton.

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