WASHINGTON — According to a wire service, Amtrak, the money-losing national railroad, could have its routes divided among regional operators as part of a broad plan to restructure the passenger operator, the board that oversees its finances said on Friday.
The Amtrak Reform Council, meeting for the first time since voting in early November to restructure Amtrak, determined that the existing service could not survive without federal subsidies.
Under a series of restructuring plans considered by the council, Amtrak could continue to run some trains. Options also include proposals to break it up and allow private companies to take over its routes.
State or multi-state groups could also run passenger service and money-losing routes could be slashed under scenarios being considered by the 11-member panel, which was created by Congress in 1997 to assess Amtrak’s future.
The council faces a Feb. 7 deadline to submit a restructuring proposal to lawmakers, who will have the final say on the railroad’s future.
Council members said a final plan could be selected from one of the options under consideration or combine elements from some or all of them.
Amtrak is also required to file a liquidation plan, but there is strong opposition to this outcome among inter-city rail proponents and many powerful members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.
“Politically that just won’t work,” said Paul Weyrich, reform council vice chairman.
In 1997, Congress required Amtrak to wean itself of federal operating subsidies by the end of 2002. The railroad has struggled to meet this mandate. It is mired in debt and reported a cash loss of $405 million in the first eight months of this year.
Amtrak will receive a $521-million federal subsidy this fiscal year.
“We’ve given Amtrak as much slack as possible and been patient with them when they were reluctant to give us information,” said reform council chairman Gil Carmichael.
“But America wants a national rail passenger system, and they want it passionately,” he said.
Some council members at Friday’s meeting said Amtrak hurt itself by failing to release financial records on a timely basis and offering promises of self-sufficiency that it could not fulfill.