http://www.sj-r.com/Sections/News/Stories/49090.asp"CHICAGO - Not all passenger-rail advocates are alarmed by the White House's recent proposals to cut federal Amtrak subsidies and make states responsible for train service.
Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi said he "went off the deep end" early this month when the Bush administration first suggested halting Amtrak funding. Now, more calmly, he says the ensuing debate may finally result in a national rail-development program and put an end to yearly "donnybrooks" in Congress about money-losing Amtrak.
"I think that the states are prepared to take on a greater responsibility if they see that there's a light at the end of tunnel," Busalacchi, whose state seeks to expand passenger rail, said Friday. "The federal government's really going to have to become a partner ... We've got an opportunity here, and we can't let it pass."
The Bush administration's budget for the federal fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 would reduce Amtrak funding from $1.2 billion to nothing and bankrupt the national passenger railroad. In a related move, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has revived a failed proposal from 2003 that would shift rail responsibilities and operating costs to the states, though the federal government would offer matching capital grants of at least 50 percent to improve infrastructure and buy equipment. Amtrak would remain as an operator but face competition."
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