Aid Cut Would Kill Amtrak, Official Says

The president of Amtrak said today that the Senate Budget Committee proposal to give the national passenger railway just $480 million next year would kill the system just as effectively as President Reagan’s proposal to eliminate all federal aid.

In testimony before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, W. Graham Claytor Jr. said Amtrak would not be able to operate with the reduced subsidy and would go out of business in October.

“Anybody running Amtrak could take no action but to stop service,” Claytor said.

In his budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning in October, Reagan had sought to eliminate all Amtrak subsidies. The Senate Budget Committee proposed the $480-million subsidy on Wednesday, but Claytor said the railroad needs its full request of $684 million--the same subsidy it is getting this year--or it will have to cease operation.

He said that if service were cut and employees laid off to meet a $480-million subsidy, the railroad would still have to pay about $300 million in mandated employee layoff costs, leaving only about $175 million to run the railroad.

“This is not a temporary cessation of service,” he said. “This is an all-or-nothing termination that can never come back.”

Claytor also asserted that if Amtrak folds, the government would have to lay out more money than it saved in order to handle the transportation of people who depend on Amtrak service. He said that without Amtrak trains between New York and Washington, a new airport would be required in the New York City area and construction of that facility would have to be subsidized by the taxpayers.

“It’s going to cost the government more money to get rid of Amtrak than it is to keep it going,” he said.