June 20, 2002, Southfield, MI --At a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce this morning, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta revealed the Bush Administration plan to kill Amtrak.

As outlined by Mineta, the Bush plan calls for privatizing the service, separating the infrastructure from the operating services in the Northeast Corridor, contracting out the work, and eliminating train service that states don't help pay for. This is the same plan put forward by the anti-Amtrak ARC (Amtrak Reform Council) earlier this year.

Mineta did not offer any solutions to Amtrak's immediate financial crisis which could lead to a shutdown of intercity trains by the end of next week.

The Washington Post reported that "Mineta had hoped to delay disclosure of the Amtrak plan until after the immediate crisis had passed, but his hand was forced by the insistence of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, on holding a hearing on the Amtrak problem this afternoon."

The Senate Transportation Appropriations Committee hearing began today at 1:30 to consider pending supplemental appropriations legislation. A number of Congressmen, including Senators Hollings, Biden and Carper are trying to insert a loan guarantee provision for Amtrak in the legislation.

Amtrak President David Gunn is making preparations for an orderly but abrupt shutdown of service if the railroad is unable to obtain a loan guarantee from the government which would enable them to secure a line of credit that would cover the present $200 million budget shortfall.

Amtrak has requested an appropriation of $1.975 billion, with $1.2 billion going towards operations. Both Amtrak and Department of Transportation Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead have said the $521 million recommended by the Bush Administration would allow Amtrak to do little more than shut down.

If the Bush Administration and/or Congress do not resolve Amtrak’s short-term crisis through a loan guarantee or supplemental appropriations before its July 4 recess next week, Amtrak will have no choice but to shut down the entire national system, including the Northeast Corridor, for lack of cash.

Please help now. Call, fax or e-mail your Congressmen and President Bush. It is vitally important that we flood Capitol Hill and the White House with messages of urgency. BMWE members with access to the Internet can link to www.ttd.org where they will find an "Amtrak in Crisis" button that will take them to an interactive page which will allow them to send an emergency e-mail to their members of Congress and to President Bush.

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