In a letter written to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Congressman John Mica (R-FL) the joint member unions of TTD, which includes TCU, responded to a recent statement from the Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators (AIPRO).
The letter from AIRPO argues that certain provisions in the Senate Rail Title of S.1813 are “extremely harmful to the future of rail passenger service.” The leaders of labor unions that represent workers employed in the passenger rail sector wanted to address the arguments and correct the blatant misrepresentations included in the letter.
The joint letter states, “AIPRO’s claim that the Senate bill ‘guarantees a government-sanctioned Amtrak monopoly’ is simply wrong and requires an illogical and tortured interpretation of these sections that we rebut below. AIPRO does not seek government neutrality as it relates to public-private partnerships in passenger rail as it claims but instead is seeking policies that will favor and mandate privatization of rail service regardless of the merits of such a decision. This approach ignores the history of passenger rail both in this country and abroad and the basic economics of this sector of our transportation system. Amtrak was created because privately operated passenger rail failed 50 years ago. Furthermore, British experiments with passenger rail privatization, which led to fare increases, poor customer service, and serious safety problems, were abandoned. Rather than learning from the mistakes of the past, AIPRO would doom us to repeat them.”
“We urge you to continue to work on passing a bill that levels the playing field in the passenger rail sector while promoting safe, reliable passenger rail service.”
Click here to read the complete joint letter sent to Senator Boxer and Representative Mica.