Hotline #1,174

Amtrak’s Flynn Thanks House Appropriators for Bill That Would Avoid Long-Distance Cuts -- RailPassengers.org

The House’s historic funding levels for Amtrak in Fiscal 2021 will soon be marked up by the full Appropriations committee, and Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn today thanked the appropriators for giving Amtrak the resources it needs in order to avoid making very difficult choices -- like cutting long-distance frequencies -- in the face of a catastrophic revenue and ridership losses. While he outlined a raft of investments and improvements the new T-HUD bill would make possible, ranging from fleet replacements to infrastructure improvements, Flynn also acknowledged that “In particular, a $10 billion investment in Amtrak would enable us to avoid frequency reductions on our Long-Distance routes, as well as minimize any further impacts to our workforce.”

Rail Passengers’ Statement on House Appropriators Protecting Daily Service – RailPassengers.org

House appropriators with jurisdiction over transportation programs gave Rail Passengers another significant victory, releasing a draft Fiscal 2021 proposal boosting regular Amtrak appropriations, setting aside at least $26 billion in additional emergency grant funds for Amtrak and public transportation, and tying the money to a requirement that Amtrak not cut staff or routes.

Much of this reflects the priorities outlined by Rail Passengers in its March 17th request to the House Appropriations Committee and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies subcommittee supporting additional rescue funds for Amtrak and public-transportation agencies.

Make Sure You’re Getting Rail Passengers’ Midweek Brief - RailPassengers.org

Missed our Midweek Brief? You can still read all the stories here! We covered House Appropriators passing a bill to maintain daily service and dramatically increase investment in Amtrak and transit, Rail Passengers’ Sean Jeans-Gail speaking to a New York Times reporter about what 3x service would mean for Americans, a radio interview with our Madi Butler about what it’s like to travel to 24 cites by train in 50 days as part of Summer by Rail, and more! Sign up now to make sure you’re receiving Rail Passengers’ communications.

What Are We Doing About 3x Service? - RailPassengers.org

There’s a lot happening right now, and it can be hard to keep up to date. This page is a resource to let you know about everything the Rail Passengers Association is doing to keep America’s trains running through the coronavirus crisis. We're speaking up for passengers at Amtrak, in the halls of Congress and in newspapers, radio and websites. But we're doing more than talking -- we're working with Congress to secure protections for passengers. Keep checking back on the 3x page for the latest.

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