Amtrak Head Says Service May Stop

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Amtrak Head Says Service May Stop

Amtrak's new president is warning the cash-strapped passenger railroad will shut down all service next month unless it gets a $200 million loan in the next three weeks.


President David Gunn is hopeful the loan will come through, Amtrak spokesman Bill Schulz said Thursday. As collateral, Amtrak can use $200 million of the federal appropriation it expects to receive when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Schulz urged passengers holding reservations in July and beyond to keep them.

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Transport Chief to Call for Big Changes at Amtrak

The Bush administration plans to embrace limited privatization as a long-term option for high-speed rail service now operated solely by Amtrak, a government source said late on Wednesday.

In an address on Thursday to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta plans to outline a plan by the administration of President Bush for high-speed rail.

Mineta will also outline a requirement that any near-term federal aid for Amtrak be linked to reforms in how it operates.

Separately, Amtrak's new president, David Gunn, will tell Congress on Thursday that he has asked the Bush administration for a loan guarantee so that Amtrak can borrow $200 million from private creditors to prevent a shut down in July and keep operating through the summer.

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Mineta Says He Doesn't Want Amtrak to Shut Down, Says Might Consider Emergency Financial Help

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said Saturday he would consider providing emergency financial aid to keep Amtrak going past next Wednesday's threatened shutdown date.

Mineta asked Amtrak to convene a meeting of its board of directors to discuss whether, and how, the Transportation Department could help the struggling semipublic passenger railroad. The secretary also said Congress should be prepared to help.

"The administration is not interested in allowing Amtrak to shut down," Mineta said in a statement.

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Bush, Mineta Say No Amtrak Shutdown

With Amtrak on the brink of a nationwide shutdown, a senator said President Bush and Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta assured him Monday they will keep the nation's passenger railroad operating.

Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., said Mineta "gave me his word" that the administration will find a way to resolve Amtrak's immediate financial crisis.

Torricelli discussed Amtrak with Bush and Mineta on Monday during a visit by the president to New Jersey.

He said Bush also "made clear his insistence that there be some changes in Amtrak, some reform in structure and operation."