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House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee leaders held a bipartisan news conference Thursday to announce the introduction of H.R. 6003, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, which includes Amtrak reauthorization provisions, and H.R. 6004, the Rail Infrastructure Development and Expansion Act for the 21st Century (RIDE-21), to provide bonding authority and tax credits for high-speed rail projects. (RIDE-21 had been introduced in previous sessions of Congress.) Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) was joined by Ranking Member John Mica (R-FL), Railroads Subcommittee Chairwoman Corrine Brown (D-FL), Railroads Subcommittee Ranking Member Bill Shuster (R-PA), and subcommittee members Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), and Bruce Braley (D-IA). Oberstar’s House floor speech introducing the two bills is available here (PDF).
H.R. 6003 would provide $14.3 billion over five years for passenger rail programs, including $3 billion for Amtrak operations (starting at $525 million for Fiscal 2009 and increasing to $654 million by Fiscal 2013), $1.0285 billion for Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance, and $6.698 billion for Amtrak capital programs and state capital grants (starting at $1.202 billion in Fiscal 2009 and increasing to $1.427 billion in Fiscal 2013). Of the capital funds, 41% would be available to states in Fiscal 2009, declining to 35% by Fiscal 2013. There would also be $1.725 billion ($345 million annually) for Amtrak debt service. $121.814 million would go to Amtrak’s Office of the Inspector General, and $60 million would go to USDOT to move forward with Baltimore tunnel improvements. H.R. 6003 also allows for unspecified grants to alleviate identified chokepoints on existing passenger rail corridors.
H.R. 6003 also establishes a competitive state grant process for higher-speed rail corridor projects (at least 110 mph). $350 million would be available for each fiscal year ($1.75 billion total) for a federal match of up to 80 percent.
H.R. 6003 also contains a provision that would compel Amtrak to, within nine months of enactment, submit a plan to Congress to restore service along the Sunset Limited route between New Orleans, LA and Sanford, FL. According to the bill text, “In developing the plan, Amtrak shall consult with representatives from the States of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, railroad carriers whose tracks may be used for such service, rail passengers, rail labor, and other entities as appropriate.” $1 million would be allocated for this process.
There are many differences between H.R. 6003 and S. 294, the $11.4 billion passenger rail reauthorization bill which passed the Senate last October, which the two houses would have to reconcile in conference committee. The Senate version provides $335 million more for operations, but in chronologically descending amounts, and $386 million less for capital. Besides funding, differences include mechanisms for resolving Amtrak on-time performance issues on freight railroads (the House version contains none), and the extent to which private operators would be allowed to bid on operating passenger service.
National Train Day is tomorrow, May 10, and events are happening across the country! NARP thanks its volunteers who have worked tirelessly to transform the first annual National Train Day from an event focused in four large cities to one that raises awareness of train travel in communities all across the country. For more information, see NARP’s event list and news release, and Amtrak’s NationalTrainDay.com web site. Chairman Oberstar gave a House floor speech honoring National Train Day yesterday, which may be read here (PDF).
Missouri lawmakers have approved $5 million for capital improvement of the Union Pacific line between St. Louis and Kansas City. The capacity expansion is aimed to improve the performance of state-financed Amtrak trains; the funding comes a week after the legislature approved the full $8 million in necessary operating assistance for Amtrak for the next fiscal year.
New Zealand has renationalized its rail and ferry operations, ending its foray into privatization that began in 1993. According to the Financial Times, “Rail privatization was never popular in New Zealand and Tranz Rail, the company set up to run the system, ran into financial and political difficulty after its owners stripped it of capital and under-invested in the railway system.” The government purchased the operating assets back from the Australian company Toll Holdings for $522 million USD after renationalizing the physical plant in 2004.
ARINC announced on Wednesday that it won a contract from Amtrak to upgrade the Northeast Corridor Centralized Electrification and Traffic Control (CETC) system. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
Queens, NY Borough President Helen Marshall has called on Amtrak to immediately repair a Northeast Corridor bridge at Broadway and Northern Blvd. in Woodside Queens after continued reports of concrete chunks falling off the bridge to the streets below. In a letter sent to Amtrak on Tuesday, Marshall said, “The potential for a catastrophic accident caused either directly or indirectly by falling chunks of concrete is very real and, at this point, very preventable.” Amtrak said engineers have evaluated the bridge, and that crews will work to repair the concrete over the next week.
Norfolk Southern Railway will showcase its Exhibit Car in 23 cities in its network through 2008. Details can be found on the NS web site.
264 passengers and 30 crew members of VIA Rail Canada’s eastbound Canadian train 2 were quarantined on Friday in Foleyet, Ontario following the death of a passenger who had suffered flu-like symptoms. Other passengers reportedly fell ill. The Ontario Ministry of Health released a statement saying that there is “no evidence of an infectious disease outbreak.” Sick passengers were reportedly concentrated within two cars of the train; one was airlifted to a hospital, while five were isolated for assessment aboard the train.
Three people were injured on a Shore Line East commuter train in Branford, CT on Wednesday after a rough coupling incident. The engine of train 1632, which was en route from New Haven to Old Saybrook, apparently decoupled and recoupled to the passenger cars while in motion. About 80 passengers were reaccommodated on another train. Amtrak operates Shore Line East trains.
The Northeast Corridor was shut down for about an hour on Monday near the Newark Liberty International Airport Rail Station as law enforcement acted on a tip that a man wanted in connection with the slaying of a Philadelphia police officer was in the vicinity.
The mainline serving Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliners and Metrolink’s Orange County and Inland Empire-Orange County lines was shut down for approximately three and a half hours this morning and afternoon after construction crews working in Irvine, CA ruptured a natural gas line. Several trains were annulled, with some alternate transportation provided.
Amtrak Capitol Limited service was disrupted after a CSX freight derailment in South Huntingdon, PA, east of Pittsburgh, on Sunday. Train 30 was turned to train 29 in Pittsburgh, with eastbound passengers bussed. The next train 29 from Washington was annulled, with no alternate transportation provided between Washington and Pittsburgh.
A New York City Subway train suffered a minor derailment near Central Park on Sunday. 449 passengers on the Queens-Brooklyn train were reaccommodated on a rescue train.
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