By Chris Galford, Transportation Today; July 1, 2019
During an oversight hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee last week, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) addressed Amtrak CEO and President Richard Anderson, demanding details on efforts to preserve and improve long-distance passenger rail.
Udall pressed the Amtrak official for blaming Congress and others over budgetary concerns while failing to engage its stakeholders. His criticism follows news that Amtrak is considering breaking up long-distance routes, though it backed down from doing so during Fiscal Year 2019 after a fight over the Southwest Chief rail line service.