Hotline #855-A - December 14, 1994

Amtrak, at noon today, announced the decisions that its board made yesterday regarding service cuts. Their goal is to close a projected operating deficit of $169 million for fiscal 1995, which has already begun.

The following changes will take place February 1:

• The Silver Star will be cut to tri-weekly.
• The Silver Meteor will be cut to four-times-a-week.
• The Empire Builder will be cut to four-times-a-week west of St. Paul only.
• The Desert Wind will be cut to tri-weekly between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles.
• The Crescent will be cut to tri-weekly between Atlanta and New Orleans.

The following changes will take place April 1:

• The Montrealer will be eliminated, though a New York-Washington corridor train will remain in its slot.
• All the local Hiawathas between Milwaukee and Chicago will be eliminated.
• All local Capitol trains between Roseville, Sacramento, Oakland, and San Jose will be eliminated.
• The Pere Marquette between Chicago and Grand Rapids will be eliminated.
• All service between Kansas City and St. Louis will be eliminated.
• The Gulf Breeze between Birmingham and Mobile will be eliminated.
• All Detroit trains will have their Pontiac and Toledo legs eliminated.
• All Atlantic City service will be eliminated.
• All Harrisburg service will be eliminated, except for the Broadway and Pennsylvanian.
• All trains between Boston and Springfield will be eliminated, except the Lake Shore Limited.
• Fort Wayne Thruway buses will be eliminated, as well as the St. Louis-Carbondale bus.
• Three daily round-trips between Boston and Washington will be eliminated.
• One daily Metroliner round-trip between New York and Washington will be eliminated.

Amtrak President Tom Downs said that further service cuts would be considered by the board at its March meeting, to take effect June 1. He said the February and April cuts represent only 15% of the cuts that need to be made.

Amtrak will attempt to seek more state support for the 403(b) services that are to be cut in April.

Downs said that the management realized that route cuts alone were not going to accomplish real savings and that frequency reductions had to be brought into play. He feels that it is important to show the Clinton Administration and the Republican Congress that Amtrak has a serious business plan and that this program will balance the books for 1995. He said the board accepted the management recommendation without change.

During the presentation, allusions were made to eliminating all Heritage equipment during the fiscal year, but no details were spelled out.

Of course, NARP is skeptical of any program that seeks to cut its way to good health, and remains equally skeptical of the numbers that went into the analysis. NARP believes it would be helpful for the Administration to ask Congress to relieve Amtrak of fuel taxes -- which the airlines don't have to pay -- and to include Amtrak on the list of eligible ISTEA programs.

Speaking of the Administration, indications this week are that the Office of Management and Budget has been overruled in its attempt to zero out Amtrak in its budget request for 1996.

Our December newsletter has been printed and is being mailed first-class. The mailing will include a sample leaflet that can be used by members to help spread the word.