WASHINGTON, D.C. -- According to the Washington Post, a council created to monitor Amtrak narrowly found yesterday that the nation's passenger train corporation cannot meet a congressional mandate to break even on its operations by the end of next year. The decision may force Congress and the administration to deal more quickly than they wished with the question of whether Amtrak must be reorganized or liquidated.

The Amtrak Reform Council's 6 to 5 vote, defying the wishes of Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, starts a 90-day process during which the council will draft a reorganization plan and Amtrak is required to develop a liquidation plan. The Senate can then choose between them, come up with its own plan or do nothing.

The do-nothing option seems less likely as Amtrak's finances deteriorate even though trains have been packed since the Sept. 11 hijackings and 36 states are developing plans for frequent higher-speed intercity service.

The council's action appeared to be an expression of no confidence in current Amtrak management rather than a vote against passenger trains. In fact, council members on both sides called their positions the best way to spread passenger trains more quickly around the country. The council resolution itself said "passenger rail can and should have a bright future in America."

Amtrak said the council failed to follow the law that created it, by not taking into account national emergencies and whether Congress had appropriated adequate capital funds for Amtrak.

While the vote has no immediate direct effect on passenger train operations, it adds pressure on the Bush administration and Congress to take some sort of action -- whether it is to move the Amtrak crisis higher on their agenda or to abolish the self-sufficiency requirement.

Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Transportation, has proposed legislation to eliminate the self-sufficiency requirement. But it is unclear whether he could get that through Congress, given strong opposition to Amtrak by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and key House members. Again, members on both sides say they support passenger trains, although McCain has said he would cut trains back to the East and West coasts and the Chicago area.

Mineta and Deputy Transportation Secretary Michael Jackson had asked the council to delay a vote until at least January because they and other key Bush administration personnel were busy handling aviation issues in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

Associate Federal Railroad Administrator Mark Yachmetz, speaking for Mineta and Jackson, said President Bush will propose a comprehensive passenger train plan in January or February, and ask Congress to put the plan in effect by Memorial Day. "I emphasize passenger service, as opposed to Amtrak," Yachmetz said.

The council vote was the second setback for Amtrak in two days. On Thursday, Bombardier Inc. of Montreal sued Amtrak for at least $200 million, contending that the train corporation was responsible for much of the delay in delivery of the new Acela Express high-speed trains now used between Boston and Washington.

A number of officials said the vote may cause nervousness at banks that have lent hundreds of millions of dollars to Amtrak. Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), a former Amtrak board member, said that while he favors the self-sufficiency requirement as good discipline, Congress should move quickly to "decouple" the council's action from any possibility of liquidation.

"It is important to move promptly to maintain calm in the financial markets," Carper said. "The council made the wrong decision at the worst possible time."

Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said the decision was clearly premature because council members "know nothing about the effects of September 11."