While the report was upbeat about the potential for high-speed rail to effectively compete with increasingly congested highways and airports, its account of Amtrak's finances and likelihood of meeting the deadline was less optimistic. In 2000, at $943 million the railroad's operating deficit was $100 million more than the benchmark set under Amtrak's strategic plan. Revenue too lagged $84 million behind projections. To stay on target, Amtrak would need an unprecedented 18.3% increase in revenue while servicing a $3 billion debt.

The report specifically attributes the shortfalls to a year-delay in the commencement of Acela services and slow growth of mail and express delivery services, but the Council blamed deep "institutional flaws" for Amtrak's long-standing poor performance. Specifically, Amtrak is plagued by a mismatch of governmental and private sector roles, an unwieldy combination of responsibilities for railroad operations and line infrastructure, and a lack of dependable capital funds.

To solve the organizational problems, the Council sets forth scenarios for restructuring. All include assigning Amtrak's current governmental responsibilities, like distributing federal grants and reporting to Congress, to a separate entity. To focus Amtrak's mission, the Council suggests it divest itself of expensive to maintain infrastructure, in particular the North East Corridor line which will require an estimated $20 billion in repairs and improvements in the next 20 years.

Under one option, the North East Corridor could be transferred to a regional compact comprised of the states through which it runs. Under another, the Federal government would take responsibility for the capital needs of the NEC and Amtrak's other properties and would coordinate their use. Afterwards Amtrak would function strictly as either a public or privatized train operator, though it could contract for payment with states that desire it to run needed services at a loss.

Regardless, the Council believes that Congress must continue to financially support all capital investment in national passenger services adequately and with greater constancy. The report presents three possible long-term financing options: federal appropriations on a project by project basis focused on safety related projects like the refurbishment of tunnels under NY's Penn Station, approval of the High Speed Rail Investment Act which would finance $12 billion in capital bonds for the railroad over the next twenty years, and the creation of a dedication rail passenger transportation fund to be filled through the addition of a penny each to both the federal and state gasoline tax. Read the full report on the web at www.amtrakreformcouncil.gov .