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U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno calls for end to Amtrak funding as Ohio studies new Amtrak routes [1]
['Sabrina Eaton', 'Seaton Plaind.Com']
Date: 2025-06-18 16:44:00.765000+00:00
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.”
“The only thing I’d say is that providing air travel is also a public service, but there’s no government owned airline, for good reason,” Moreno replied.
Moreno’s suggestion that the federal government abandon Amtrak comes at a time when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration has been studying the feasibility of a new Amtrak line between Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton.
Other options they’re examining include routes between Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit; routes between Chicago and Pittsburgh with stops in Columbus and eight other Ohio cities; and having trains on an existing New York City-Chicago Amtrak route stop in Cincinnati daily, rather than three days per week. That route, called the Cardinal, doesn’t make any other Ohio stops.
At the earliest, trains wouldn’t start running in Ohio until September of 2030, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission’s executive director said last year.
If/when that new train service starts, Amtrak would cover the first five years of operational expenses. After that, tOhio would be responsible for paying each line if revenue from things like ticket and food sales isn’t enough to cover them.
Most state-supported Amtrak routes have usually not been profitable on their own and require varying amounts of subsidies.
Amtrak estimated last year that the proposed Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati would, by 2035, have 385,000 riders annually but run an operating deficit somewhere between $16 million to $25 million. Proponents of Amtrak expansion say the goal is to make the routes profitable over time as service improves.
Ohio Gov Mike DeWine told a Columbus Metropolitan Club event in March that the final decision on authorizing new passenger rail routes in the state will likely be up to his successor, not him, as he’s term-limited in 2026.
“Some future governor, in all likelihood, and a future legislature can make a decision about whether rail transportation, passenger transportation, makes sense for the state of Ohio,” DeWine said.
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[1] Url:
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/06/us-sen-bernie-moreno-calls-for-end-to-amtrak-funding-as-ohio-studies-new-amtrak-routes.html
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