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Amtrak cutting service across country

Jun 17, 2020 1:46 pm
Microsoft News reports that Amtrak is making major cuts to train service around the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. Long-distance routes are taking the hardest hits, though Amtrak will operate trains 32 percent less often in the Northeast. “Let’s be clear: this is penny-wise and pound-foolish,” Jim Mathews, president and chief executive of the Rail Passengers Association, said in a statement. “The long-distance services declined the least among Amtrak’s three business lines during the coronavirus-induced slowdown, and its services remain essential to the hundreds of small communities across the United States with fewer options than Philadelphia or Boston or New York City.” Amtrak says right now ridership is down 90 percent, and they predict it will be down 50 percent the rest of the year. Read more about this story at the Microsoft News website.