Amtrak Records Its Biggest Loss Ever

Amtrak lost more money last year than at any time in its history, posting an operating loss of $1.1 billion even as it desperately tried to end dependence on federal subsidies, a government report said.

That loss was $129 million more than the previous year and put a significant amount of new pressure on the 30-year-old national passenger rail system, which is struggling to avoid a major restructuring or dissolution.

Amtrak’s cash loss, which was the basis for measuring its drive for sustaining its operations without government help, was $585 million in fiscal year 2001, according to the report by the Transportation Department inspector general.

The report confirmed what an Amtrak oversight board concluded in November: that the railroad would not be self-sufficient by the end of this year as Congress demanded in 1997.

The report said Amtrak’s cash loss this fiscal year would be $511 million, which is $263 million more than it would need to qualify for operating self-sufficiency under the congressional order.