The chief executive of Amtrak urged lawmakers on Wednesday to approve over $2 billion in new emergency assistance as the U.S. passenger railroad expects travel and revenue to fall by more than 70 percent from pre-coronavirus levels in 2021, Reuters reported. Amtrak projects just 9 million passenger trips and $598 million in revenue for the budget year that began Oct. 1, down from over 32 million trips and $2.35 billion in the 2019 budget year and $1.24 billion in the 2020 budget year that ended Sept. 30, according to testimony from CEO Bill Flynn. The absence of new government assistance, Flynn warned, would “essentially reduce the company to a very, very precarious state.” “There aren’t any good options” without new assistance,” he added. Ridership and revenue are down more than 80 percent and Flynn told the Senate Commerce Committee the railroad’s budget forecasts assume a vaccine by middle of next year.
