By Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor, Railway Age Magazine; October 8, 2020
Amtrak, updating its forecast for fiscal year 2021, anticipates needing up to $4.857 billion to support the company and employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, as Congress considers programs for stimulating the economy, Amtrak has identified $5.193 billion in additional need as part of an economic recovery proposal to help the nation recover from the impacts of the pandemic. The combined requests total $10.050 billion.
In an Oct. 8 letter to Vice President Michael Pence, in his capacity as Senate President, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President and CEO William J. Flynn formalized the $4.857 billion funding request. He noted, “We have seen that our ridership is not returning as quickly or at the levels that we had hoped for.”