Rail campaigners praised five US politicians who saved the country's inter-city rail service Amtrak from oblivion.

The four managed to get the Amtrak subsidy for next year increased to £680million from a miserly £312million which would have led to widespread cuts in services, leaving 23 states without an inter-city rail service.

The five politicians tabled an amendment in the House of Representatives to the American government's hostile rail budget and after a series of votes in late June, Amtrak's future looks like being secured for another year.

The five rail heroes were Republican Steven LaTourette from Ohio, and Democrats James Oberstar from Minnesota, Corinne Brown from Florida, Nick Rahall from West Virginia and Robert Menendez from New Jersey.

Mr LaTourette chairs the Railroads Subcommittee and Mr Oberstar is the top Democrat on the full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Amtrak President David Gunn told the House that "faced with a £312million appropriation, we would have no choice but to begin an orderly shut down of the railroad."

NARP executive director Ross Capon said: "It is unfortunate that Amtrak must continually operate under the threat of shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.

"However, we are lucky to have leaders like Representatives LaTourette, Oberstar, Brown, Rahall and Menendez who understand both the importance of keeping Amtrak running and how close we are to losing the entire system."

With the price of crude oil soaring, even ordinary Americans are waking up to the fact that their countrymen and women are burning up the world's future.They need to bring more pressure on oilman president George Bush to intoduce sensible transport policies.

Now rail campaigners await the Senate verdict, expected in mid July.

Information from National Association of Railroad Passengers
Washington, USA
www.narprail.org