ASHINGTON, June 24 — President Bush assured New Jersey's two senators today that Amtrak will not shut down this week, an aide to Senator Robert Torricelli said.Posted on 06/24/2002 9:59:20 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
ASHINGTON, June 24 — President Bush assured New Jersey's two senators today that Amtrak will not shut down this week, an aide to Senator Robert Torricelli said.
Mr. Bush pledged that some kind of temporary solution, possibly in the form of loan guarantees, was being worked out, Mr. Torricelli's aide said.
The president was also said to have emphasized that the administration will not drop its insistence on major structural changes at Amtrak.
A shutdown of Amtrak would have far-reaching ripple effects that could upset the travel plans of many commuters.
The rail service, which carries 300,000 commuters in the New York region daily, has said that it will run out of money for its payroll and other obligations on Wednesday or Thursday, and without help from the government will be forced to begin shutting down, starting with its long-distance trains.
New Jersey Transit, whose trains carry many of those commuters into Manhattan, would also be shut down because Amtrak owns the main tracks and provides operational services like electricity, switching and dispatching.
The Long Island Rail Road uses Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station and some short stretches of Amtrak rail in New York City and so would also be affected, although there have been suggestions that the railroad could confine passenger service to Long Island.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta was meeting with the Amtrak board this afternoon, and an announcement was expected at 5 p.m. Mr. Mineta had said the administration was "not interested in allowing Amtrak to shut down."
On Sunday, Senators Jon Corzine, New Jersey's junior senator, Torricelli and Charles E. Schumer of New York, all Democrats, held a rally at Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, demanding that the Bush administration guarantee a $200 million loan Amtrak says it needs to keep going until new federal subsidies kick in after Oct. 1.
Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Senate majority leader, was expected to meet this evening with senators from states that depend most on Amtrak service.
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