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June 30, 2005
Rahall Amendment to Save Cardinal Amtrak Route Passes House
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| Hinton has service on Amtrak's Cardinal, 3 days a week east and westbound: Sunday, Wednesday, Friday |
by HNN Staff
Washington, D.C. (HNN) - An amendment introduced by U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) and another amendment he supported - both to save Amtrak service in West Virginia - passed the House of Representatives Wednesday, June 29, 2005.
"Amtrak, and specifically the Cardinal line, is crucial to West Virginia," said Rahall. "The amendment I introduced, which passed the House today, will ensure that the Cardinal is not lost in the massive cuts to Amtrak which were proposed by the President."
House Appropriators included language in the Transportation Appropriations Bill that would have destroyed Amtrak through a lack of funding. The original bill also specifically named the Cardinal for elimination.
The Cardinal serves an estimated 88,930 passengers annually. It travels from Washington to Chicago, traveling through southern West Virginia along the way. It serves the communities of White Sulphur Springs, Hinton, Beckley, Montgomery, Charleston and Huntington. The Cardinal, along with 17 other rural train routes across the U.S., was scheduled for elimination before Rahall's amendment passed. If Rahall's amendment remains in the final version of the Transportation Appropriations bill then the Cardinal will remain operational.
"The original bill was ready to eliminate the Cardinal line," said Rahall. "With the support of my colleagues, I was able to ensure that the Cardinal is not eliminated by the funding cuts. I am committed to ensuring train service is available for West Virginians and for the whole of rural America."
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| Hinton station is undergoing restoration. It was built about 100 years ago when 9 or 10 trains daily served the thriving town. |
Rahall introduced the amendment to save the Cardinal and other Amtrak routes along with U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown (D-FL) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
The Brown-Menendez-Rahall amendment, which passed by a vote of 269-152, would keep Amtrak routes functioning in 23 mostly rural states, including West Virginia, that would otherwise lose all passenger rail service. According to the legislators, the current rail cuts would leave 4,430,562 people who are served by the routes without passenger rail service. Rahall stressed that he would not stand for anyone ignoring the need for rural rail service in West Virginia and across the Nation.
Also on the floor of the House today was a bipartisan amendment to the Transportation-Treasury Appropriations Bill, which increases funding for Amtrak to a total of $1.2 billion. Rahall is a firm supporter of this amendment and helped it pass the House by voice vote this afternoon.
Rahall said, "Passing these amendments are the first steps towards saving Amtrak, but we must ensure these provisions stay in the final version of the bill. Today, we helped keep the Cardinal alive and we increased the Amtrak funding to $1.2 billion. I will continue to work with my colleagues to help make sure Amtrak receives sufficient funding to continue serving our Nation with passenger rail, especially the Cardinal line."
The Administration proposed to cut all funding to Amtrak in its budget, which was released earlier this year. This proposal would leave the Nation with no viable nationwide passenger rail service.
"If the Republican Leadership got their way and funding was not restored, Amtrak as we know it would be destroyed. These proposed changes are unfair to the many Americans who rely on Amtrak for transportation and Amtrak employees," said Rahall. "I will not tolerate this blatant disregard for the hard-working employees of Amtrak and passenger rail throughout the country."
"West Virginians depend on Amtrak; Americans depend on Amtrak for their travel needs," continued Rahall. "I am pleased that my colleagues are moving in the right direction on this and I will continue to do everything I can to ensure Amtrak continues to serve West Virginia on the Cardinal line."
