• By WILL SENTELL
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Oct 6, 2009 - Page: 1A

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The state could have applied for $300 million to build a passenger railroad line from Baton Rouge to New Orleans even without a solid plan to pay the operating costs, a federal official wrote a Louisiana congressman.

But Louisiana’s transportation boss said Monday local officials along the route failed to offer a plan to shoulder the costs, which made any state application pointless.

An unsigned draft resolution circulated shortly before the filing deadline said only that parish leaders would “seek the necessary level of support” to help make a rail line feasible, said William Ankner, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development.

“‘To seek’ is not a real strong commitment,” Ankner said Monday.

The administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal opted not to apply for the federal funds, which would come out of an $8 billion package. The deadline was last Friday.

Jindal’s office has said repeatedly that, even if the state landed the money, it would not have the $18 million per year to operate the line.

No ironclad state financial commitment was required on the application, said Joseph C. Szabo, administrator for the Federal Railroad Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“Obviously the best approach is to demonstrate an existing, dedicated source of funding,” Szabo said in a letter to U.S. Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, R-New Orleans.

Without such a source, Szabo said, a memorandum of understanding from local governments “accepting responsibility for operating costs would be considered as evidence that the applicant is working on addressing this area of concern but not yet fully resolved it.

“The stronger the commitment to fund these costs, the better,” the letter said.

The letter was dated Sept. 28, which was four days before the filing deadline.

Cao was part of a group, including some Baton Rouge area lawmakers, that made a last-ditch push on Thursday to convince Jindal to apply for the money.

Cao’s office did not return a call for comment on Monday.