Amtrak's quarter-century chug at taxpayer expense may finally be running off the rail. The House Budget Committee has targeted eliminating its federal subsidy entirely by 2002. This year's funding bill, just out of the railroad subcommittee at press time, is only a tentative step; it trims federal subsidies over the next four years, with some reforms to allow more contracting out and ending some federal micromanagement of such matters as route cutbacks.
Amtrak squeezed $972 million from taxpayers in 1995 to cover its losses while taking some halting steps toward cutting the shortfall.