House FY24 Transportation Appropriations Bill Amtrak statement

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

https://media.amtrak.com/2023/07/statement-from-amtrak-ceo-stephen-gardner/​

 

[lordsigma]

https://media.amtrak.com/2023/07/statement-from-amtrak-ceo-stephen-gardner/​

A truly awful proposal - shows what the priorities of the majority on that committee are. Gardner’s commentary is spot on - people should know what the idiots they voted for are doing and what they support cutting. Kind of shaking my head at some of the posts on this issue on a certain other board that will remain nameless. This is an area where all passenger rail advocates should get together and coordinate - putting any differences aside. NEC vs National network is a false battle and major cuts to either are devastating to the company as a whole. This proposal would not only devastate the NEC business unit with a massive cut but the 35% national network cut would likely result in tri weekly service across the long distance network and significant cuts to state supported frequencies along with furloughs across the network - would basically put us right back to where we were at the height of COVID - or possibly worse. It would basically shut down the Beech Grove and Bear shops as they’d have the capital side of things completely zeroed out. While I do think this won’t make it too far it is still an important time for advocacy and to show voters what it is they are voting for when they vote certain people in.