Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

Amtrak has started to cut costs in response to pressure from the Trump administration to align with its priorities.

According to an article by Dan Zukowski in Smart Cities Dive, the agency carried 15 percent more customers last year than in 2023, and its new St. Paul-to-Chicago line exceeded ridership projections. Now, Amtrak is reorganizing its priorities; its CEO resigned in March, and Amtrak announced it will cut roughly 10 percent of jobs.

In April, USDOT rescinded federal support for the Texas Central high-speed rail project, and “An Amtrak spokesperson confirmed to Smart Cities Dive that the railroad is no longer pursuing new high-speed rail projects.”

Sean Jeans-Gail, vice president of policy and government affairs for Rail Passengers Association, said the flat funding, which is now directed to the national network rather than focused on the Northeast Corridor, is a pleasant surprise in light of feared deeper cuts. “Jeans-Gail said there is a consensus forming around some new policy ideas, such as a national equipment pool that would purchase and lease rail cars, train sets and locomotives to Amtrak, states and other passenger railroads, a practice that is commonplace in commercial aviation.”