American Rescue Plan Restores Full Amtrak Long-Distance Services
Written by
William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
Close to $2 billion in funding for Amtrak is among the elements in President “Amtrak Joe” Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan bill, approved by Congress on March 10, and which is expected to be signed into law by the 46th President shortly.
The $1.7 billion in Amtrak COVID-19 recovery funding will enable Amtrak to fully restore daily service on 12 long-distance routes, following pandemic-related schedule reductions in 2020. Amtrak said it “will sustain and restore operations and recall the more-than 1,200 furloughed employees through the remainder of FY21 and into FY22. All destinations and scheduled departure/arrival times served by the long-distance network will be maintained … providing customers significantly more departures for the upcoming summer travel season.”