Amtrak's $630m Trump budget cut could derail service in 220 US cities
Amtrak's $630m Trump budget cut could derail service in 220 US cities
Long-distance services could be devastated by budget cuts, and the blow will be especially painful in rural areas that bought the president’s infrastructure pitch
Tom Dart in Apline, Texas Sunday 30 July 2017 07.00 EDT
The routes have names that evoke glorious Americana and the frontier spirit: the Empire Builder, the Silver Meteor, the Sunset Limited, the Texas Eagle, the Coast Starlight and the California Zephyr.
While he has touted a $1tn investment plan for America’s infrastructure – which so far shows few signs of materialising – the president’s proposed budget included $630m in cuts for Amtrak that would devastate long-distance services.
An advocacy group, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (Narp), warned the budget “wipes out funding for long-distance train service in over 220 cities and towns and in 23 states that will lose train service completely”. Almost all those states are in the middle of the country and voted for Trump. Most of the stations said to be at risk are in rural areas.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/30/amtrak-budget-cuts-texas-trump-support-betrayal
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