Amtrak asks for $4.9 billion to stay afloat

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Last edited Thu Sep 10, 2020, 12:07 PM - Edit history (2)

Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

Amtrak asks for $4.9 billion to stay afloat

September 9, 2020 Business, Coronavirus

Roll Call reports:

The new chief of Amtrak told a House subcommittee Wednesday that his government-subsidized company will need an additional $4.9 billion from taxpayers to avoid sweeping service cuts and job losses after Oct. 1

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CONGRESS

Amtrak asks for $4.9 billion to stay afloat

The railroad service is burning through $250 million a month as ridership plummets because of the coronavirus pandemic



Passengers work and eat in an Amtrak dining car. (CQ Roll Call file photo)

By Jessica Wehrman
Posted September 9, 2020 at 6:48pm

The new chief of Amtrak told a House subcommittee Wednesday that his government-subsidized company will need an additional $4.9 billion from taxpayers to avoid sweeping service cuts and job losses after Oct. 1.

William J. Flynn, who became president and CEO of Amtrak in April, said the company, which received $1 billion from a roughly $2 trillion coronavirus package passed in March, is burning through $250 million a month because of continued ridership decline caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Ridership and revenue are still more than 80 percent lower than before the pandemic. Ridership had been down as much as 97 percent.

“We cannot continue to indefinitely fund a workforce too large for the number of passengers we’re serving,” he said, saying the additional money will help “stave off bankruptcy.”

The company’s request is markedly higher than the $1.475 billion it sought in May.

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