Hotline #941-A - August 8, 1996

Amtrak today announced its plan for coping with what it termed "an accelerated reduction in federal funding." The Amtrak Board will approve the plan next month. The changes will take effect November 10. Amtrak proposes a mixture of route eliminations and frequency increases. Total train-miles would increase, with 131 stations getting more frequent service. But 42 stations (including Dallas and Fort Worth) would lose all service. Here are the basics:

• These trains will be made daily -- Empire Builder, California Zephyr, City of New Orleans, Crescent (which already is daily since the Olympics).
• The Texas Eagle will be eliminated south of St. Louis, ending all service to Arkansas and northern Texas, including the huge Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
• The Pioneer will be eliminated, ending all service to southern Idaho and Wyoming.
• The Desert Wind will be eliminated, ending all service to Las Vegas.
• The Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited will be replaced with a Thruway bus.
• The Sunset Limited will be terminated at Sanford, Fla. However, in response to a question from NARP, Amtrak said it is studying keeping the train on the additional 24 miles into Orlando, the biggest travel market in Florida.
• The Three Rivers will be extended from Pittsburgh to Akron and Chicago.
• A third Florida train, the Silver Palm, will run from New York to Charleston, Ocala, Tampa, and Miami, replacing the Tampa section of the Silver Star. It will have roughly the old Palmetto schedule north of Jacksonville.
• There will be more equipment shared between trains for better utilization.

Several elements remain to be decided, including Thruway bus opportunities in various places. Amtrak is in discussions with state and local officials about a possible Los Angeles-Las Vegas train, a Seattle-Portland train to fill the Pioneer's slot, and possible, undisclosed changes to the Michigan service. Amtrak says the changes are needed to close operating deficits and concentrate resources in places that give Amtrak the greatest chance of survival in the next few years. But the loss of service to so many places, and particularly a huge market like Dallas, must serve as a wake-up call to the public and to Congress that Amtrak's capital and operating needs must be funded adequately -- or there will be more bad news in the future.