http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42446224/ns/politics-the_new_york_times?GT1=43001
Wouldnt this mean Amtrak is closing down temporarily too?
Somewhere I read that Amtrak had over $200M cash operating reserve to tide them over. Anyone have more info? Of course they could stop some service thru key congressional districts to “conserve cash”
Like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Amtrak is government owned, but not a government agency with employees receiving pay and vendors being paid with US Treasury Checks. I know of no reason why Amtrak would shut down unless they ran out of cash. Even if federal grant payments to Amtrak were delayed, it could conserve cash by shutting down activities such as equipment overhauls and non-urgent track and signal projects (with employee furloughs), and slow payments to vendors.
Have you gotten your income tax refund?
While Amtrak is a government corporation its employees are not federal employees so they would be expected to work assuming Amtrak is funded. However, if no appropriations for FY 2011 have been passed Amtrak might have to shut down for a lack of government funding since it might not be able to collect enough money from ticket sales to pay their employees.
I wish I were getting one instead of owing.
bet the HSR advovates have yet to stumble into this cold, hard piece of fiscal reality[:-,]
Here is an update. The question, whether Amtrak would shut down if the federal government shuts down was raised in a Q&A column about the federal government shut down in today’s ( April 8, 2010) Washington Post. According to an Amtrak spokesperson Amtrak has enough money to withstand a short term federal government shutdown.
Sounds as if a budget agreement has been reached in the 11th hour.
At the end of January Amtrak had $86.6 million in cash and cash equivalents. The cash budget projected a balance of $17.1 million at the end of March. The ending balance for March, adjusted for any April changes, would be available to fund operations. It is a long way from $200 million.
Amtrak also had $392.3 million of restricted cash and cash equivalents at the end of January. These funds are restricted to specific uses, e.g. Amtrak Police, ARRA, state build and maintenance projects, etc.
At the end of FY10, Amtrak had lines of credit of approximately $50 million, although they appear to be for restricted uses. It is unclear whether they could be used to support on-going operations.
Push come to shove, Amtrak could probably borrow whatever operating funds that it needs should there be a government shutdown and the subsidies normally paid to the carrier dry up.
At this point, 10:44 P.M. CT, April 8, it appears a shutdown of the federal government has been adverted.
Actually, Schlimm, you are the smart one as long as you don’t owe more than the threshold to trigger a penalty. The smug folks who are touting their refund may not realize it, but they gave the government(s) an interest free loan for the year. Not what is know as smart finance! J.P. Morgan has nothing to fear from this crowd, which unfortunately is all too typical of American taxpayers.
Now, how to keep this within the context of a railroad forum. Oh, I know. All the folks who have gotten a refund can book a reservation on Amtrak’s biggest money loser and help bail out the struggling carrier. Let’s see! Which train? Well, as is the case with many things, the decision won’t be an easy one, although as one might imagine, the choice lies amongst the long distance trains.
If loss per passenger mile rings our tax refund recipient’s chimes, the Sunset Limited at 50.3 cents should be a winner. On the other hand, if aggregate loss is the bell ringer, the Southwest Chief lost $62.3 million in FY10. It is important to choose a train on FY10 results so as to match the taxpayer’s forgone interest with Amtrak’s loss.
The official answer by Mr Boardman in front of the House Appropriations Committee last week was that Amtrak had done contingency planning for a government shutdown and determined that it could operate for one month. When asked about month #2 his response was that no planning was done for that and he thought that they would have to shutdown some portions of the Amtrak network.
Amtrak only recovers 70% of cost at the farebox systemwide and 100% of costs above the rail in the Northeast Corridor according to Mr. Boardman. So while it is true there is some revenue comming in it would not cover 100% of costs for a prolonged period without access to Government funds.
70% farebox recovery!! I had no idea it was that good. Here, VRE only covers 55% at the farebox. Sure, we’re comparing passenger to commuter, but that’s phenomenal.