Amtrak’s long-distance routes are at risk due to Trump’s budget cuts to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Trump thinks the cuts will free up the company “to focus on better managing its state-supported and Northeast Corridor train services,” but the company feels that their long distance routes are important.
The Amtrak president and CEO Wick Moorman released a statement about the cuts.
“Amtrak operates 15 long-distance trains across the nation, and these routes offer the only Amtrak service in 23 of the 46 states we serve. Amtrak is very focused on running efficiently—we covered 94 percent of our total network operating costs through ticket sales and other revenues in FY ’16—but these services all require federal investment.”
Amtrak also has plans to introduce new high-speed trains, which will not affect the length of the routes but will save the company some time.
