NEWS & EDITORIAL COMMENT
edited/DAVID P. MORGAN
SUBSIDIES: THREE CHOICES
1 IN a surprise opinion issued last summer, the Interstate Commerce Commission recommended Federal sub- sidies to railroads to "preserve essential passenger services." The Commission would disburse the money which could total 52 million dollars a year. It would do so under a formula geared to mainte- nance of way expenses on track, signals, and other fixed plant required for pas- senger schedules, thus leaving manage- ment a "strong incentive" to cut costs since subsidies would not be related to deficits which totaled 485 million dol- lars last year. Citing the bankruptcy of New Haven as its Exhibit A, the I.C.C. says other roads may follow; deficits of Eastern roads, especially, look "ominous, deep-seated and endemic" to the Com- mission.
Said the Commission: "A nation that is serious about propelling a man to the moon should be able to solve the mun- dane problem of moving its citizens de- pendably and comfortably some 50 miles or less from home to work without multi- plying ribbons of concrete and asphalt that would strangle the central cities they are supposed to serve."
Reaction to the regulatory agency's proposal, which is expected to reach Con- gress as a bill in early 1962, was split both in Washington and among the rail- roads. Frowning were Santa Fe (“A first step toward eventual nationalization of all transportation"); Rock Island ("We don't favor any subsidies”); Sen. George Smathers, Dem., Fla. ("Poorly timed and poorly expressed"); Sen. Frank J. Lausche, Dem., O. ("I'm not going to go along with giving out the taxpayers' money"), but pleased were Pennsy ("Gratifying"); Reading ("Highly en- couraging"); Erie-Lackawanna ("Heart- ening"); and Sen. Prescott Bush, Rep., Conn. ("The thought of Federal subsidy to these railroads does not upset me so much as it does some other people").
As for the rails, the Wall Street Journal observed dryly in its news columns that "their reactions jibed with their financial health." That is, commuterless Santa Fe with a net operating income of 21.1 mil- lion dollars for the first half of 1961 was opposed, but commuter-conscious Pennsy with a deficit of 12.3 million for the same period was very much in favor. The Western position was summed up by Il- linois Central's Wayne A. Johnston who declared, "A subsidy is an expensive way of hiding a problem, not of solving it. . . . Allow the railroads the freedom to com- pete, and they will need no help.” For the East, Pennsy's Allen J. Greenough re- plied, "While the Commission uses the word 'subsidy,' what they plan, we be- lieve, will not subsidize the railroads but
will subsidize the people who are using and need rail suburban and through trains. . . . Everyone knows that the Government is currently subsidizing farmers, home builders, airlines, shipping lines, and truckers, and yet we have heard no talk about nationalizing these important functions in our economy. To my mind, the I.C.C. proposal is a big step in the opposite direction from nationali- zation."
Insofar as commuters are concerned, TRAINS believes along with former New Haven President George Alpert that they do not constitute a business at all since it is patently impossible for tax-paying private enterprise to make any profit hauling them. Example: North Western, which cleared a tiny but much publicized profit on commuters in 1959-1960, lost more than 1 million dollars on them in the first half of 1961 alone. Indeed, only the political and social implications of the commuter deficit have prevented its abo- lition. If a Western line dropped huge amounts of money on a long branch to a played-out mining area, it would apply for abandonment and doubtless win ap- proval. The loss is just as real in the East but a road just can't abandon, say, 30,000 riders a day no matter what. Again, free- dom to compete isn't the issue. Businesses compete but not public services such as police and fire departments, sewage sys- stems, schools, and if you adopt the East's viewpoint commuter movers.
In any event, there are but three al- ternatives to the dilemma:
1. If Government forces the commuter railroads to treat the service as a busi- ness, they will either raise fares to cover costs and taxes until the riders are driven to expressways, or they will go bank- rupt trying, as New Haven did.
2. If Government subsidizes commuter railroads by direct aid and/or tax for- giveness, it will save much more money by thus resolving the automobile problem than is ever allocated to the rails. How- ever, the railroads will still be handi- capped by owning plant and equipment for and devoting management attention to a traffic which is but a break-even proposition at best.
3. If the commuter issue is faced squarely, Government (directly through an authority) will do the job itself by buying the track (or trackage rights) and cars required to move X number of people to and from work.
If commuters are indeed a community responsibility, then the third alterna- tive of authority ownership and operation of rail suburban systems is an answer both Eastern and Western railroads should be able to agree on without cav- Continued on page 10
WHAT, NOT ALREADY?
OUR regular waiter downtown at Deutsch & Graun, a gentleman by name of Everett, has a happy habit of calling out, "What, not already?" whenever we depart this commendable bar-restaurant—whether it's 6 p.m. or after midnight. Which is the way feel about concluding our round- the-world articles in this issue. One re- ward of a writer is that he gets to relive his journey as he turns notes into maga- zine copy, but more satisfying than that is the chance to say - in word and photo-
Kalmbach Publishing Co. 1961. Title reg. Pat. Off. Published monthly by Kalmbach Publishing Co., 1027 N. 7th St., Milwaukee 3, Wis., U.S.A. BRoadway 2-2060. Western Union and cable address: KALPUB Milwaukee. A. C. Kalmbach, President. Joseph C. O'Hearn, General Sales Manager. Ward Zimmer, Ad- vertising Manager. TRAINS assumes no responsibility for the safe return of unsolicited editorial material. Acceptable photographs are held in files and are paid for upon publication. Second-class postage paid at Milwaukee, Wis. Printed in U.S.A. YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION, $6; 2 YEARS, $11; 3 YEARS, $15. For life, $60. Outside the Americas, 50 cents a year additional (for life, $5 additional).
FIFTY MORE GP-20's Ordered by the
SANTA FE
Fifty more General Motors 2000-hp GP-20's are joining the Santa Fe fleet of twentyfive GP-20's at work pulling the freights between Chicago and Kansas City. By turning in fifty 1350-hp freight locomotives, the Santa Fe is exchanging 67,500-hp capacity for 100,000-hp-a gain of 48%. This added capacity enables the fifty new GP-20's to do the work of seventy-four older FT's.
This is the essence of the General Motors Locomotive Replacement Plan.
LA GRANGE, ILLINOIS • HOME OF THE DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE In Canada: General Motors Diesel, Limited, London, Ontario
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