Amtrak now needs $5 billion in federal funds, Flynn tells Congress

Amtrak anticipates it will need up to $4.9 billion in federal funding to operate and continue to invest in its rail network, President and Chief Executive Officer William Flynn yesterday told lawmakers during a congressional hearing on the railroad's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest dollar amount, which includes $2.8 billion in federal supplemental funding, is necessary to help Amtrak address the financial crisis it faces as a result of the pandemic, Flynn said.

"We, along with our state partners, have seen stunning revenue losses as a result of the precipitous decline in ticket sales due to COVID-19," Flynn said. "Our latest projections are that in FY2020, Amtrak's revenue loss from ticket sales will be $1.266 billion, which would be only 55 percent of what it was in FY2019."

Amtrak's FY2021 begins Oct. 1. Given the uncertainty of the supplemental funding for the new fiscal year, the railroad has had no choice but to slash operations and furlough about 2,000 employees, Flynn said.

The federal funding not only would help the railroad continue to operate and invest in the network, it would address lawmakers' concerns, such as by avoiding the employee furloughs and maintaining daily service on its long-distance trains. Earlier this year, Amtrak announced a plan to reduce most of its long-distance routes to three days a week. The railroad also is reducing train frequencies on the Northeast Corridor.

The two-hour hearing before the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials was Flynn's first time testifying before Congress as Amtrak's chief executive.

Congress is considering Amtrak's earlier request for $2.8 billion, nearly double the supplemental funding it projected it would need in May. The funding request comes on top of the $2 billion in federal subsidies the railroad receives annually toward its operations.

Subcommittee Chair Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) asked Flynn to commit to rescind the furloughs and service reductions if Congress agrees to fund the $4.9 billion that Amtrak wants, according to a Washington Post report.

"We will do as directed by Congress," Flynn said, the newspaper reported. "If that $4.9 billion instructs us to rescind the furloughs and rescind the service cuts, we'll do that."