House Votes $603 Million in Amtrak Funds

The House voted 290 to 128 Thursday to approve a bill authorizing a $603.5-million federal subsidy for Amtrak in fiscal 1986 and ordering a study of whether the passenger railroad can make more money.

The Reagan Administration had proposed cutting out all money for Amtrak and said that its functions should be taken over by states or private railroads. But Congress rejected the proposal, deciding instead on a 10% cut in the subsidy.

The $603.5-million limit in the authorization bill passed Thursday means that Amtrak may have to reduce the size of crews on trains and delay some track improvement and overhaul of trains, Amtrak President W. Graham Claytor Jr. said.

Finances to Be Studied

The House bill would set up a 15-member commission to look at Amtrak’s financial situation, including whether it can improve its financial performance and whether there are other ways to fund it.

The bill, sent to the Senate, was passed on an unusual roll-call vote, in which the House members were polled one by one because the electronic ballot system was not working.

Amtrak was created in 1970 to take over intercity rail services that had previously been operated by financially troubled private railroads. It carries about 20 million passengers a year, mostly in the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington.