Amtrak is requesting an additional $1.475 billion in funding from the federal government to help cope with the loss of revenue from the coronavirus crisis, the passenger railroad company announced on Tuesday, ABC News 10 reported.
“It is clear that Amtrak faces daunting challenges in Fiscal Year 2021, which will require us to take action to protect our rail network, our critical capital assets, and the livelihoods of our employees,” Amtrak President and CEO Bill Flynn wrote in a letter making the appeal to the federal government.
Amtrak received $1 billion in emergency funding from Congress as part of the CARES Act due to the pandemic, but the company said those funds will not be enough, Business Insider reported.
The company proposed that as part of receiving the additional aid, it would reduce its operating costs by some $500 million - including restructuring its workforce and controlling discretionary expenses.
Flynn explained that the additional funding is needed “to maintain minimum service levels across our network, provide funding to Amtrak in lieu of state and commuter payments that will be difficult for our partners to provide, and continue our program of capital investment for the future."
The company, which had been on track to break even financially for the first time ever before the pandemic hit, said it has so far not cut any routes, although it has instead reduced service to a bare minimum .
To illustrate the current dire situation, the company said demand is only about 5% of the usual ridership.
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Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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