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"You can't profitably run a railroad that way either." Railroads are also hobbled by books full of outdated and unnecessary regulations. Last week ICC Member Anthony F. Arpaia, who should know, called the commission "an organizational monstrosity." Both the ICC and state commissions require months or years of hearings before railroads may drop obsolete runs. The New York Central struggled for five years to drop its West Shore line. It was losing $3,000,000 annually—enough, said the Central's president, Alfred Permian, "to have provided a Chevrolet, if not a Cadillac, for each of the less than 4,000 commuters using the service." Railroad unions also add to costs by featherbedding, and full-crew laws in 16 states force the roads to employ men they consider unnecessary, last year cost the Central $5,000,000 in New York State alone.
For years the railroads have been hit for hefty taxes by every little town they pass through. They are also prime targets for states such as New Jersey, which, says the ICC, assesses rail property at 100% of value while setting a lower base for other taxpayers. When a railroad repairs a bridge or improves a parking lot, it is not praised, but taxed more heavily. New York City forced the Central to build a new $23 million bridge over the Harlem River in such a way that a new highway could pass under it, then upped taxes on the bridge from $70,000 to $500,000 a year. Says the Central's solicitor, Robert D. Brooks: "Everyone wants to milk the cow, but no one wants to feed it."
Help for Ceylon. The New Haven's Alpert thinks the solution to such problems is an all-out campaign for Government subsidies. He charges that the railroads are slowly being crushed by subsidized competition. Says he: "Subsidy is a common practice today, particularly in the field of transportation. Billions have been spent in the construction of airports for the use of the airlines. This is a subsidy. Hundreds of millions have been spent to maintain the merchant fleet, privately owned. This is a subsidy. For the benefit of the automobile and truck user, $93 billion has been spent on the highways, of which only $45 billion has come back in user charges. The balance is subsidy."
Alpert is particularly galled that the Government gave more than $2,000,000 in 1958 subsidies to New York Airways' helicopter service, which carried fewer passengers all year (91,000) than the New Haven carries in a day. The Government has given loans and grants of more than $1 billion to aid foreign railroads, including one chunk for improving commuter service in Colombo, Ceylon.
Says Alpert: "There would seem to be very little reason why some slight recognition should not be given by our Government to the railroads that are struggling for survival here in the U.S."
Most of Alpert's fellow railroad men look on his plea for subsidy with the same disapproval they show of kids who throw rocks at trains. What they do want is equal treatment with all other forms of transportation, including tax equality or outright tax relief. In this, they have a shining example to encourage them: the Long Island Rail Road, which once vied with the New Haven in the race to ruin, now enjoys a reputation as the best New York commuter railroad.