WASHINGTON, (NMB) – The United States Senate’s Commerce Committee held an oversight hearing on Wednesday morning to discuss the future of Amtrak.
The rescheduled hearing took place several days after cuts were implemented due to a lack of funding, including a reduction of service of the Empire Builder to just three days a week, which Amtrak says is temporary.
U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D) is a member of the Committee and invited Paul Tuss, Executive Director of Bear Paw Development, to testify.
“I know personally how significant this is to Montana’s economy,” Tuss said during his testimony. “I think it’s going to have a significant and detrimental impact. Our folks are just not going to be able to use Amtrak as they have in the past. And once that service becomes less reliable, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that you’re not going to use it. If they can’t go see their grandkids or their great grandkids, if they can’t get to Seattle for a doctor’s appointment, they’ll find some other way to get there. And unfortunately, the numbers for Amtrak are going to slide further.”
Tuss was introduced by U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R), who is not a member of the Commerce Committee.
“In Montana, the Empire Builder is essential to the local economy. It provides folks along the Hi-Line their only access to the National Transportation Network,” Daines said. “Like Paul, I’m deeply concerned about the impact of Amtrak’s reductions of staff and service will have across this network.”
The other witness that testified in the oversight hearing was Amtrak CEO William Flynn, who Tester said did not provide adequate answers.
“What I’m looking for, and he said he will get to me, is the metrics surrounding whether they are going to put service back to the Empire Builder into Havre,” Tester told New Media Broadcasters following the hearing. “The metrics I’m talking about is what does the ridership have to be, what does the pandemic have to look like, just let me know. My concern is the same most people have on the Hi-Line, and that is that we may never get back to everyday service again with Amtrak. And I think we’ve seen this with other routes, where they’ve reduced them and they’ve never, ever, ever came back. I just think it’s too important for the state of Montana, and particularly the northern tier, not to have everyday service. So we’re going to push them. I did get an answer that they are going to need some additional dollars with any sort of pandemic package we put out, they are going to need some additional dollars to restore everyday service…But we shall see. We shall see what’s going to happen. But I never got the answers that I wanted.”
Both Daines and Tester have expressed the need for Amtrak funding to be included in the next COVID relief package, but their parties disagree on what else should be included.
The fact remains that the longer it takes for a COVID relief package to pass through Congress, the longer the Hi-Line will be without daily service, and the larger the chance grows that the cuts could become permanent.
