OMAHA -- Ever since the fabled golden spike was driven in 1869, Nebraskans have been able to hop a train to California, the Omaha World-Herald reports. They've been able to head to points east even longer than that.

Soon that may no longer be true. In fact, if Amtrak follows through on a contingency plan laid out late last week, all passenger train service for people in Nebraska and Iowa could be eliminated Oct. 1.

The only thing that can save the money-losing cross-country routes that serve Nebraska and Iowa, Amtrak says, is a considerable increase by Congress in the annual subsidy to the nation's only passenger rail carrier.

Will passenger rail service as we know it be derailed? Or is it just a power play by Amtrak to get more money from Congress? That's the debate that figures to play out over the next several months.

Some rail advocates say it's clear that Congress needs to step up funding so that rail service across the country can be expanded and improved, not eliminated.

"People in Omaha should be getting really angry about this," said Richard Harnish, director of a Chicago-based organization that advocates better rail service in the Midwest.

Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Neb., said that regardless of what happens in Washington, he does not see the elimination of service to Nebraska and Iowa as likely.

Bereuter, a longtime Amtrak supporter, said that if Amtrak wants any support at all in Congress, it must remain a national rail service.

"If they drop these long-distance routes, I will no longer support Amtrak," he said.

Also playing into the debate could be a report to be released today by a commission appointed by Congress to study Amtrak and the future of U.S. passenger rail service.

The Amtrak Reform Council will suggest a major restructuring, including opening of some routes to competition, along with increased federal funding.

The council has already concluded that Amtrak - the for-profit corporation created in 1970 to relieve railroads of the burden of maintaining passenger service - will never become self-sufficient under its current structure.

In the face of all the scrutiny, Amtrak served notice Friday that it may discontinue 18 money-losing cross-country routes.

Among routes on the potential hit list is the California Zephyr, a Chicago-to-Oakland train that rolls daily across Iowa and Nebraska, with stops in Mount Pleasant, Ottumwa, Osceola, Creston, Omaha, Lincoln, Hastings, Holdrege and McCook.

Also included is the Southwest Chief, which stops in Fort Madison, in Iowa's southeast corner, on its daily run between Chicago and Los Angeles.

Such cuts would leave Nebraska and Iowa completely without passenger rail service, but they certainly wouldn't be alone.

In fact, the only Amtrak service left nationally under the cuts would be lines running along the East and West Coasts and some regional service connecting out of Chicago.

"We don't want this to happen and would work like the dickens to keep this from happening," said Amtrak spokesman Kevin Johnson. "Something has to happen between now and October."

Amtrak said the only way it would keep the targeted routes running is if its subsidy from Congress for 2003 is more than doubled, to $1.2 billion. Even a $1billion subsidy would not prevent elimination of the routes, Amtrak says.

President Bush's proposed budget would leave Amtrak funding at $521 million, the same amount set for the past three years. Congress will take up the issue in the months ahead.

Dan Lutz of Lincoln, president of ProRail Nebraska, an organization that supports passenger service in the state, said the group will be lobbying all members of Nebraska's congressional delegation to preserve Amtrak service.

"There are people who can't fly, don't want to fly or are afraid to fly," he said. "This is a form of mass transportation we need to preserve."