Agreement reached on Amtrak

WASHINGTON -- Amtrak and the Bush administration reached tentative agreement Wednesday night on a plan to resolve a budget crisis that could have shut down the national passenger railroad next week.

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Amtrak Chairman John Robert Smith released a joint statement reporting "excellent progress" in their discussions on how to help the railroad close a $200 million budget shortfall. "Significant details are still being finalized, and no final agreement has been signed," they said, adding that with congressional support, "Amtrak services will not be disrupted."

Amtrak had turned to the Bush administration and to Congress for help in averting a shutdown. The proposed resolution counts on action from both.

Mineta and Smith said the Transportation Department will provide the immediate financial assistance needed to keep the trains running.