JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hundreds of thousands of Amtrak riders in Florida may soon have to find another way to travel if President Donald Trump's budget proposal is approved.
The proposal would cut grants to Amtrak long distance services by $630 million -- eliminating all Amtrak service in Florida.
News4Jax on Tuesday stopped by the Jacksonville Amtrak station, where many customers were upset to learn of the proposed cuts.
One of those frequent customers was Barbara Everett, who was getting ready to board a train back to New York. She said she rides Amtrak several times a year to travel between her home and Florida to visit family.
While waiting for her train to arrive, News4Jax told Everett that Trump's proposed budget calls for eliminating all Amtrak routes in Florida.
"Oh my God. That's devastating," Everett said. "How are we supposed to travel to get where we got to go if we can't afford the planes?"
Her sister and brother-in-law were also shocked.
"It's unbelievable. I cannot believe it. I don't understand it," Cara Hubbard said. “It will probably cause the economy to suffer because people won’t be able to travel, and some people will not travel by plane, and this is the only way they will travel. So I think it will be a very negative impact on the economy.”
"It saves a lot of money (rather) than catching an airplane," Rechard Hubbard said. "It would be devastating."
Trump's budget would eliminate all three routes in Florida, which include:
- The Auto train, which runs daily from Lorton, Virginia, to Sanford, Florida
- The Silver Meteor, which runs daily from Miami to Orlando to New York
- The Silver Star, which runs daily from Miami to Tampa to Orlando to New York
Many people said the proposed cuts would have a negative affect on Florida's tourism industry.
"I think a lot of people use it to get to the beach and different parts of Florida," said Jennifer Powell, an Amtrak customer.
According to the office of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, the proposal would also stop ongoing efforts to restore Amtrak services in the Panhandle and along the Florida’s Gulf Coast.
“This just doesn’t make sense,” Nelson said in a news release. “Eliminating Amtrak service in Florida not only affects the nearly one million Floridians who ride the train each year, it would have a real impact on our tourism-driven economy by making it harder for folks to come visit our state.”
News4Jax on Tuesday put in a request to find out what Gov. Rick Scott thinks about the plan. His office said he hasn't yet reviewed the president's budget proposal.