U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling on Amtrak to scrap a plan that would create “economy” style seating on-board its Acela and Northeast Regional Train service.
Amtrak officials say they’re considering installing smaller seats and reducing leg room on those trains. This would allow for more rows of seats and bring in more money for the railroad.
Amtrak has struggled financially. But in fiscal year 2016, it posted an all-time ticket revenue record of more than $2 billion, a $12 million increase from the previous fiscal year.
Senator Schumer says the plan to compromise passenger comfort for profit is right out of the playbook of the airline industry.
He says the railway should not start on the “slippery slope of shrunk seating” and packing people in like sardines.
Schumer says Amtrak should find other ways to save money without burdening passengers. He says if the federal government fully funds Amtrak, which it has not done, then customers would not have to be nickle and dimed.
Last year, Amtrak had a record 31 million passengers, more than one-third of them in the Northeast Corridor.
