WASHINGTON, D. C. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Westlake Republican, suggested the U.S. government should stop funding Amtrak, the nationwide intercity passenger railroad company controlled by the U.S. government.
Speaking at a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing Wednesday on modernizing the U.S. rail system, Moreno unfavorably compared Amtrak’s service in Florida to that of a private company called Brightline, whose trains are faster and run more frequently than Amtrak.
Moreno said the amenities on Amtrak compared to Brightline reminded him of “a Russian car from the ‘70s versus a modern vehicle today.” Brightline runs 36 trains daily between Miami and Orlando at speeds of up to 110 miles per hour, while Amtrak has two daily trains that go around 50 miles per hour, Brightline senior advisor Husein Cumber told the subcommittee.
“Why are we even in this business?” Moreno asked. “Why are we subsidizing or owning passenger rail in America when we’re terrible at it? The government is objectively, really, really bad at running that. If we had government airlines, Holy Lord, can you imagine what that would look like? Why don’t we just get out of that business completely, let the private sector run it?”
Association of American Railroads president and chief executive officer Ian Jeffries told Moreno the answer would depend on whether a national intercity rail service should be considered a public service or a private enterprise.
In some parts of the country, like the sections of Florida where Brightline operates, Jeffries said it’s profitable for private companies to run a railroad.
“Congress has made the decision that it also wants to provide other services that are going to be inherently money losing, and as long as that’s the point of view, then that service needs to be provided as well,” said Jeffries. “It’s probably not an either or.”
