MUNSTER, Ind. — As Congress prepares to weigh in on the future of Amtrak passenger rail service, the Indiana High-Speed Rail Association announced plans to launch a study assessing the economic impact of high-speed rail service in Indiana, the Times Online reports.
The study would be put in the hands of lawmakers, businesses, transportation officials and equipment manufacturers to try to spur high-speed rail development along rail corridors in Indiana.
“The passenger rail mode of travel has been, over the years, relegated to a secondary or step-child status,” W. Dennis Hodges, executive director of the association, told a group meeting on high-speed rail issues involving the state at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts on Thursday.
Results of the study are expected to help make the project feasible.
“We know intuitively that the economics are right,” said Roger Sims, president of the association. “But nothing has been generated, so far, in a scientific study.”
Studies by the American Transit Association indicate that a $10 million capital investment in transit projects provides 570 construction jobs, $30 million in sales gains and $30 million in increased sales. Roughly $15 million in transportation costs are saved to highway and transit users, and there is as much as a 16 percent gain in local or state revenues because of personal and business income gains.
The Indiana High-Speed Rail Association study likely will look at the impact of high-speed rail service on jobs, income, investment and revenue streams for state and local government. Also, it will likely reflect existing data on riders and the impact on airports in Gary, Indianapolis, South Bend and Fort Wayne, among others.
Cursory estimates on what the study will cost, given its parameters, fall in the range of $20,000 to $100,000, Sims said. Currently, there are no underwriters.
The association’s announcement was timed with a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning on the future of Amtrak rail passenger service.
Amtrak has asked Congress to bolster its proposed $521 million budget by $1.2 billion for the fiscal period beginning Oct. 1, and has threatened to close long-distance passenger rail lines if the funds do not come through. It opened the door for talks on whether to open the passenger rail system up to competition, or whether Amtrak’s structure and management should be changed.
Allan Rutter, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, was scheduled to testify, but pulled out as a witness Wednesday. Members of the rail subcommittee were subsequently informed by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta that work on the Amtrak issue was not complete. Debate may hinge on whether Amtrak would continue to operate intercity passenger rail, or be allowed to franchise some of its services.
Last November, Mark Yachmetz, associate administrator for railroad development in the Federal Railroad Administration, said the White House would present a proposal in its 2003 budget. But a budget document that was released said the federal government, states and the private sector should work together to provide “high-quality, cost-effective service on viable routes or where the states have declared a public need they are willing to fund.”
Rob Greenlese, of the Toledo Lucas County Port Authority in Ohio, said the debate in Washington is a long way from high-speed rail service in Indiana or the Midwest. The debate in Washington involves preservation of a national rail passenger system.
“We have been careful not to overtly support or criticize Amtrak,” said Sims. “We can operate with any operator. This system makes sense no matter who operates it.”
But Sims said this is no time for foot-dragging.
“We can’t stand on the sidelines and wait,” he said. “We need to get our state to understand the importance of transportation. It’s our future.”