The Region - News from Jan. 9, 1986

When Congress convenes Feb. 1 to consider budget cuts as required by the new Gramm-Rudman bill to end the federal deficit, U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson’s top priority will be to abolish Amtrak, he said in Huntington Beach. “I’d wipe it out,” the California Republican said of the government-subsidized passenger railway system after taping a program at public television station KOCE-Channel 50 on a variety of issues. Wilson said he doubted his colleagues in Congress would have “the spine” to eliminate federal subsidies. But, he said, “Amtrak is a system in which a quarter of the stops board less than five passengers a day. It is very difficult not to declare that a luxury.”