WASHINGTON 鈥� As fate would have it, the Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia comes just as Congress is set to debate Amtrak鈥檚 funding.
CBS 草莓传媒 Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes tells 草莓传媒 the House Appropriations Committee is about to debate a Republican proposal to cut Amtrak鈥檚 funding from $1.4 billion to $1.13 billion.
鈥淩epublicans have frequently argued that Amtrak is a money-loser,鈥� Cordes said Wednesday morning.
She says they want to Amtrak 鈥渞un more like an actual business, and that if Congress were to reduce funding for Amtrak, it would kind of force the railroad to sink or swim, and change the way it operates.鈥�
Democrats, on the other hand, argue that 鈥渋n order for Amtrak to be profitable, there needs to be an investment in its infrastructure, that it needs government help, and that we鈥檙e falling farther and farther behind rail lines in other countries.鈥�
That鈥檚 an argument that will play out in real time Wednesday, Cordes says, and the derailment could play a role.
鈥淲e might see some adjustments based on what鈥檚 happened. We have seen things like that in the past. 鈥� Congress tends to react to situations like this.鈥�
Wednesday鈥檚 derailment ironically happened on a Northeast Corridor train, the busiest rail line in the country and one of the few on which Amtrak makes money. Cordes points out, however, that that doesn鈥檛 mean the infrastructure reflects that.
鈥淚nstead of reinvesting in infrastructure along the corridor 鈥� that money goes to those other rail lines around the country that don鈥檛 make money.鈥�
When that happens, the Northeast Corridor 鈥渄ecay[s] even more, even though it鈥檚 sort of the lifeblood of Amtrak itself.鈥�
Cordes also explains that lots of members of Congress come from states along the unprofitable long-distance rail lines, some areas of which don鈥檛 have air service, and they鈥檙e resisting any changes in that regard.
The Republican proposal would forcibly divert $470 million per year to the Northeast Corridor. The head Amtrak, Cordes says, also wants a change in the funding process, because right now Amtrak works on a year-to-year basis, and that makes it hard to enter into long-term contracts or make long-term investments to fix the infrastructure.
鈥淪o that鈥檚 another structural problem with the way Amtrak is run. 鈥� It鈥檚 something no airline, for example, has to deal with,鈥� Cordes says.
