(rshsdepot) Topeka, KS

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

[ No frills, but trains still run ]
Topeka Capital Journal
 2002-12-19

No frills, but trains still run
No bands were playing, no speeches were given and no passengers were waiting
in line to buy tickets at Topeka's Amtrak station on Wednesday.

In fact, one day after Kansas City staged a party of sorts to welcome
passenger train service back to refurbished Union Station, Topeka's aging
station at 500 S.E. Holliday was, as usual, locked up.

But a walk around the back of the station revealed subtle changes --- more
lights and new white paint on the platform ceiling and supports --- that in
their own simple way are cause for celebration. You don't spruce up the
joint if the trains aren't running.

Earlier this year, Amtrak warned us that the Topeka trains would stop
running. Two months ago.

Amtrak's announcement that it would eliminate 18 long-distance routes,
including the Southwest Chief that served Topeka, on Oct. 1 if the
government didn't jump on board with a $1.6 billion subsidy seemed to signal
the end of the line for local rail passengers. Even Mayor Butch Felker, ever
the optimist, admitted last spring that "it's going to be tough to save, but
no one has thrown in the towel yet."

Well, we're still fighting. And the trains are still running.

"Our trains don't seem to be threatened right now," said Topeka's John
Mills, a long-time Amtrak employee who now serves on the board of the
National Association of Railroad Passengers. "We're kind of in a holding
pattern."

Topeka dodged, at least temporarily, a bullet when Congress proposed a $1.2
billion subsidy to sustain Amtrak through fiscal year 2002, but the gun
aimed a long-distance rail service remains loaded.

"We're waiting on Congress to come back. It depends on what this Republican
Congress does," Mills said.

He labeled Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who is set to become chair of the
Senate's commerce subcommittee, "very anti-Amtrak." On the other hand,
embattled Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott "has been a friend of Amtrak,"
said Mills, who speaks highly of Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., ("He's been very
supportive"), less so of Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., ("He couldn't care one
way or another about this") and Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Kan., ("You can't get
anything out of him").

Mills is encouraged by statements made by David Gunn, Amtrak's new
president, about the importance of the long-distance routes.

"He is finally the right man for the job," Mills said.

Felker is cautiously optimistic. He said the city has joined a "big national
wide push" launched by the National Conference of Mayors to retain rail
passenger service. He said the fact Amtrak still is operating two months
past the Oct. 1 cutoff date is encouraging. So is Kansas City's commitment
in Union Station.

"It shows people are still riding the train," Felker said.

Topekans ride it, too, although Felker said his office wasn't inundated by
complaints when Amtrak threatened to eliminate passenger service here.

"There's been a few --- seniors, especially --- who called," the mayor said.
"It's the only way some of them travel, and a lot of people feel if you lose
it, you'll never get it back.

"The fact the trains arrive at Oh-dark-30 will always be a problem," Felker
added, referring to the middle-of-the-night arrivals at the Topeka station,
"but at least it's coming through."

And it's coming through a station that looks whiter and brighter, even if it
appears almost abandoned during the day. It may not be Union Station, but
what matters is that the trains are still running, and who needs a band
anyway?

Read Pete Goering's columns on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and listen to
his sports commentary on Radio 580 WIBW at 5:45 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday
and Friday. He can be reached at (785) 295-5659 or goering_@_cjonline.com.


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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