Stressing the critical need for federal funding support for passenger rail improvements, States for Passenger Rail Coalition Chairman David King testified before both houses of Congress in April.
Congress on Feb. 13 passed legislation granting Amtrak a $1.05 billion operating and capital grant for the 2003 fiscal year. Additionally, repayment of a June 28, 2002, $100 million from the U.S. DOT loan from has been deferred.
Amtrak today announced that it is making rail travel a better value than ever before with a rollback in coach fares on many of its routes from coast-to-coast.
Despite the slow economy and a sluggish travel industry, the Amtrak Cascades achieved ridership of over 577,000 passengers during 2002 — a three percent increase compared to last year.
Al Crown, executive vice president-transportation, announced that veteran railroader Paul Reistrup will retire on December 31, 2002, following successful integration of CSX Transportation’s passenger and commuter rail network.
