Mr. Flynn, who took over Amtrak in April, has also received criticism from Democratic and Republican lawmakers for his cost-cutting measures in response to the pandemic.
Some lawmakers and rail advocates said his decision to cut service on long-distance routes — which serve nearly 220 communities across the Southern, mountain and Western regions — to three times a week from daily was a tremendous blow to local economies and rural Americans.
“In some areas, Amtrak is the only means of public transportation providing a direct line for economic success in rural communities,” said Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, adding that she did not want to see a situation where the pandemic caused service cuts that would take “15 years to get re-established.”
On Wednesday, under intense questioning from Republican and Democratic senators, Mr. Flynn reiterated that Amtrak had no intention of making its cuts to long-distance service permanent. He said he would make an assessment in February on whether to temporarily continue service cuts.
Rail advocates have pushed back on Mr. Flynn’s hesitation to restart daily service, noting that long-distance ridership as of July was faring better than ridership on routes that were more popular before the virus hit, including those in the Northeast Corridor.
An analysis by industry experts showed ridership was down 62 percent on long-distance trains as of July compared with the same period last year, while ridership on relatively shorter routes through more urban areas had declined more than 80 percent.
“Dropping daily service will hurt heartland America’s economies to the tune of at least $2.3 billion while saving Amtrak less than $213 million,” said Jim Mathews, the chief executive officer of the Rail Passengers Association, an advocacy group.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/us/politics/amtrak-coronavirus-layoffs.html
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