Amtrak will begin shutting down rail passenger service nationwide later this week and put Amtrak into bankruptcy unless the Bush administration or Congress approves a loan guarantee or direct appropriation, Amtrak president David Gunn said last week.
The U.S. Postal Service and others that use Amtrak to ship mail and packages said they have contingency plans if there is a shutdown. Amtrak handles 5 percent of USPS mail, with most of that First-Class mail and periodicals that move up and down the Eastern corridor.
