President Bush’s proposal to eliminate federal funding for Amtrak could force the company into bankruptcy, officials said.

The proposal would make states and local communities pay for Amtrak’s operating costs. Federal funding will only provide for half of the infrastructure improvements.

Since there is no federal funding in the budget for the railroad, it would mean the end of all intercity passenger rail, said Ross Capon, executive director of National Association of Railroad Passengers.

Amtrak officials were blunt in their assessment of the budget proposal.

“No federal operating funding means no train service under the president’s plan,” said Marc Magliari, media relations manager for Amtrak in Chicago.

Amtrak supporters claim the proposal is the administration’s way of terminating Amtrak altogether by cutting funding and forcing it into bankruptcy.

“The people trying to kill Amtrak are frustrated by the number of government supporters and commuters using the railways,” Capon said. “This is simply trying to separate the issue so they can kill Amtrak.”

The administration said they are not trying to get rid of the passenger rail service.

“We are not trying to kill Amtrak,” said Steve Kulm, spokesman for Federal Railroad Administration, a division of the Department of Transportation. “If we wanted to do that, we would just sit by and watch it happen on its own.”

“The president is just not cutting funding, but seeking significant reforms to how intercity passenger rail is structured and operated in this country,” Kulm said.

The plan is to put intercity passenger rail on the same federal funding system as it is for all other forms of transportation in the United States, he said.

Some experts said Amtrak has been relying on federal funding to save it from its major management problems.

“I don’t blame the government for threatening to cut funding,” said Don Adams, director of community and economic development for the Illinois Development Council in Mendota.

Funding cuts have been threatened for several consecutive years, but it looks like the administration might actually carry out its plan this year, he said.

“Amtrak needs to run more like a successful business instead of a government agency,” Adams said.

With the funding cut, the Mendota rail station would lose their line in town, Adams said. This would affect not only the commuters who rely on the rail, but also the community’s economy and tourism.