4 Amtrak Routes Spared Elimination

Four Amtrak train routes scheduled to be scrapped this fall have been saved from the ax for at least six months by a federal spending bill that provides $82.5 million to keep the trains running. “This is enough money to keep the trains going for six months,� said an Amtrak spokesman. Amtrak will have to find additional funds to keep the routes alive after the funds run out, but the appropriation will keep service running past Nov. 10--when they were supposed to have been discontinued. The routes include a segment of the Texas Eagle, connecting St. Louis and San Antonio; the Pioneer route between Denver and Seattle; the Desert Wind service between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles; and the Lake Shore Limited, connecting Boston and Albany, N.Y. Amtrak has seen federal support cut almost in half since 1995. Lawmakers have yet to identify a new funding source for the nation’s semipublic passenger train service.