ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- As the federally-appointed Amtrak Reform Council prepares to meet this Friday to discuss the future of the nation's government-chartered passenger railroad, the 335,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) today urged the panel to recognize Amtrak's persistent inability to turn a profit and recommend steps toward a free-market structure. "Having spent $25 billion on subsidies since Amtrak's inception, American taxpayers should have seen a return on their investment long ago," said NTU President John Berthoud, who recently sent a letter outlining NTU's concerns to Amtrak Reform Council Chairman Gilbert Carmichael and the other members of the panel. "The Council's advice to Congress and the President could be the key to preventing further fiscal damage."

Legislation enacted in 1997 empowers the Amtrak Reform Council to evaluate the national passenger railroad's finances, and requires the panel to "immediately notify" executive and legislative branch officials if it finds that "Amtrak will require operating grant funds" from taxpayers after December 2002. According to NTU research, this future unprofitability is virtually certain to occur:

-- Although Amtrak did receive a boost in ridership since the September 11 attacks, it appears unable to permanently expand its 0.3 percent share of inter-city passenger travel. Instead of viewing the recent upsurge in rail travel as a profit opportunity, Amtrak officials have asked for $3.2 billion in "disaster funds" from Congress.

-- In addition to several knowledgeable think tanks, both the U.S. General Accounting Office and the Department of Transportation's Inspector General have pointed to Amtrak's inability to survive without future operating subsidies from taxpayers.

-- Amtrak itself recently exposed its own plight by putting up New York's Penn Station as collateral on a $300 million loan (on top of $3 billion in debts Amtrak already carries).

"The Amtrak Reform Council should acknowledge Amtrak's inability to turn a profit now or in the future," Berthoud concluded. "By doing so, the Council will help to lay the tracks for a secure free-market rail system that gives Americans the liberty of movement they want at a price they can better afford."

NTU is a non-profit, non-partisan organization working for lower taxes, less wasteful spending, and accountable government at all levels. The group has advocated Amtrak privatization since the 1980s, and recently completed a study warning about the fiscal impact of newly-proposed government-funded high-speed rail schemes. Note: NTU's letter to the Amtrak Reform Council, along with NTU Issue Brief 130, High-Speed Rail: Making Tracks at Taxpayer Expense, are available upon request or online at www.ntu.org.