Features

Railroad short $200 million, could shut down next week 

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration on Thursday proposed long-term reforms to passenger rail, but the long-awaited proposal was quickly upstaged by an impending cash crisis that could shut down all Amtrak service next week. 

Amtrak President David Gunn said he will have to begin turning away passengers and moving trains to storage by the middle of next week unless the railroad gets government help to close a $200 million shortfall. 

“The urgency of this is enormous,” Gunn told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on transportation. “We are very near the point of no return.” 

The crisis, caused in part by uncertainty over Amtrak’s future, kept the spotlight on the railroad’s immediate survival even as the Bush administration proposed ending its role as the nation’s sole operator of intercity passenger trains. 

“The last three decades have proved that Amtrak’s model of a national network of passenger rail is just not sustainable without massive, continued federal support,” Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

The administration’s proposal would stop annual federal operating subsidies for rail, open the door to competition, give states more responsibility for train service and replace Amtrak as owner of the Boston-New York-Washington Northeast Corridor. 

Some Amtrak jobs eventually could be assigned to outside companies by contract, and failing routes could be eliminated unless states want to pay for them. 

“Prices and passengers, not politics, should direct the service,” Mineta said. 

Lawmakers from both parties urged the administration to focus on rescuing Amtrak from its current predicament before looking ahead. 

“We can heal a sick patient — and Amtrak is hurting right now — but we cannot revive a dead patient,” said Rep. Jack Quinn, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Transportation subcommittee on railroads. 

The Federal Railroad Administration is reviewing Amtrak’s request for a loan guarantee that would help it borrow the $200 million it needs. Amtrak has had trouble tapping its existing line of credit because lenders are worried about how long it will remain in business.