A Moment of Truth for Amtrak.

During the worst days of the coronavirus, people were avoiding crowds, which meant they weren’t traveling. As a consequence, ridership on Amtrak’s long-distance trains dropped to around 15% of capacity, which was pretty awful, of course. Nevertheless, those trains continued to operate daily, although with fewer coaches and sleepers.

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But now, in this moment-in-time, when the possibility of a return to more-or-less normal could be just a few weeks away, Amtrak chooses to ask Congress for another chunk of bail-out cash. And, at the same time, they announce plans to lay off 20-percent of the workforce and cut back service on the long-distance trains. (That means frequency, folks; there isn’t anything else!)

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Two of Amtrak’s long-distance trains, the Sunset Limited and the Cardinal, already operate three days a week and both trains lose money. While no one in authority at Amtrak has said on the record they’re going to run some or all of the other long-distance trains three times a week, that’s the obvious conclusion.

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What does it take? The main reason the Sunset Limited and the Cardinal lose money is because each train operates just three days a week. Nobody is happy with that. Petitions have been circulated asking Amtrak to run the Cardinal on a daily basis and, in Texas, resolutions asking for a daily Sunset Limited have been formally adopted by the elected officials of every city and town in the State where the train stops. 

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The Rail Passengers Association agrees that Amtrak needs additional emergency funding, but is adamant that any new public funds should only be used . . . 

• to prevent the mass elimination of jobs;
• to maintain the minimum of daily service for long-distance trains; i.e.: one train  a day.
• to develop a plan to return service to pre-COVID levels.

William Flynn, Amtrak’s new president, had damn well better be a quick study.