Washington, D.C. – Hours after the House of Representatives sent a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package with emergency funds for intercity rail and transit to the president’s desk, Amtrak announced that it will restore 12 long-distance routes to daily service between May 24th and June 7.
The bill includes $1.7 billion in emergency funding for Amtrak, paired with congressional mandates that Amtrak return daily service to long-distance routes within 90 days of passage and bring back railroad workers furloughed due to the pandemic. Rail Passengers—including staff, our council, and our members—fought hard for these inclusions. Not just the emergency funding, needed to stabilize service on the National Network and the Northeast Corridor, but also the requirements to restore service and workers as soon as possible.
U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak restoring service on long distance routes