Amtrak says it needs nearly $1.5 billion in supplemental funding from the federal government to maintain “minimum service levels,” anticipating ridership will not recover to pre-pandemic levels in fiscal 2021.
In a letter to Congress, Amtrak chief executive William J. Flynn said that the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has become “clearer” and that the company needs a larger subsidy to offset revenue losses, prevent interruptions to capital investments and support Amtrak’s state-funded routes.
“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,” Flynn said in the letter dated Monday.
“While we work towards a full recovery one day, our current projections tell us that we expect to see ridership drop by approximately 50%, down to just over 16 million riders in FY 2021,” Flynn said in the letter.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Luz Lazo over at the Washington Post