Printable Version

Note: Yesterday’s release understated the Amtrak budget problem by $396 million, which is the net of the $446 million that Amtrak requested in March to begin acquisition of new cars and locomotives and a $50 million reduction in the FY 2011 figure for ADA compliance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (#10-10)

July 1, 2010
Amended July 2, 2010

Contacts: Sean Jeans-Gail and Ross Capon – 202-408-8362

House Subcommittee Dramatically Increases Highway Spending, Throttles Passenger Train Growth

Washington, D.C.—The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development today marked up a Fiscal Year 2011 spending bill which increases highway spending 10% or $4.1 billion above the Obama Administration’s request while cutting Amtrak 32% or $833 million below Amtrak’s own request, and cutting state grants for high speed and intercity passenger rail $1.1 billion below current funding. 

Intercity passenger trains received a total of $3.2 billion in Subcommittee Chair John Olver’s (D-MA) “mark,” which was approved, with $1.4 billion for high speed rail and $1.77 billion for Amtrak.  The subcommittee numbers for Amtrak and for state grants are higher than the Administration requests by $151.5 million and $400 million, respectively. 

“When you have multiple objectives, it makes sense to give priority to programs that address them,” said Ross Capon, president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers.  “We appreciate that the subcommittee has strengthened passenger train investment compared with the Administration’s budget request, but the rail levels fall short when considering the sharp growth in proposed highway investment and the public interest in promoting transportation that is energy efficient and environmentally benign and which gives Americans expanded travel choices that they want and need.  Today’s action is the first step in a long process, which people interested in balanced transportation investment should work to influence.”

The subcommittee on a party-line 8-5 vote rejected an amendment by ranking member Tom Latham (R-IA) to cut state grants back to the Obama Administration’s $1 billion level, eliminate completely the TIGER grant program (in which rail has fared well) and dramatically reduce the transit New Starts program.

The immediate concern for passengers is Amtrak, where the subcommittee provided $833 million less than Amtrak requested.  Moreover, the impact on most of Amtrak’s capital investment program will be exaggerated because two major components of the program—Americans with Disabilities Act station compliance at $231 million and debt service at $305 million—are fixed.  This means that, if the subcommittee’s numbers hold, the balance of the capital program—including acquisition of new cars and locomotives—would receive $668 million or about $804 million (55%) less than Amtrak sought for “non-ADA, non-debt service” capital.  At the same time, the operating budget will be tight, as Amtrak would be “level funded” with FY 2010, and thus $29 million or 5% below what the railroad requested.

All this comes when Amtrak is seeing record ridership and is critical to the push to create a national high speed rail network that would transform the way Americans travel.  For the first eight months of fiscal 2010 (October-May), Amtrak ridership was 5% above the year-earlier level, with strong increases nationwide.  May was even stronger, with long-distance trains as a group showing the biggest gains – 9% in ridership and almost 12% in passenger-miles compared with May, 2009.  (A passenger-mile is one passenger traveling one mile.)

» back to new releases page

Printable Version

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (#10-11)

July 22, 2010

Contacts: Sean Jeans-Gail – 202-408-8362

Senate Subcommittee Provides Hope for Amtrak, Slashes Investment in High Speed Rail

Washington, D.C.—The Senate Appropriations Committee met today to mark up the Fiscal Year 2011 budget, approving a transportation bill that would give Amtrak breathing room in the face of possible service reductions and furloughs, providing some possibility of near-term flexibility in meeting surging demands in ridership, but would more than halve the funding for the popular high speed rail program.

The committee, headed by Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), approved a “Chairman’s mark” that would provide $1.963 billion for Amtrak, $666 million short of what the passenger railroad requested, but $196.5 million more than House appropriators—who approved their bill at a hearing held yesterday—and roughly $363 million over what the Obama Administration requested.  It is unclear how these numbers would fit into Amtrak’s financial plan, which contains key elements of a critical fleet renewal and reinvestment strategy, necessary to replace their aging fleet of railcars.  Fleet renewal would enable Amtrak both to accommodate rising public demand for trains (the railroad set a new record for ridership for the first half of this fiscal year), and to revitalize the U.S. passenger railcar production industry, creating much needed domestic manufacturing jobs.  Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO), the Transportation subcommittee’s fiscally conservative ranking member, acknowledged yesterday the necessity of Amtrak’s fleet request, while expressing disapproval of the manner in which it was presented.

The Senate took a big step backward with the high speed rail program, however, providing only $1 billion—$400 million less than what the House Appropriation Committee approved, and less than half the $2.5 billion the program received last year.  States have lined up to apply for high speed rail grants at roughly the rate of $54 in applications for every $1 available.  The grant money in this inaugural program has recently started to flow, creating engineering and construction work on high and higher speed lines beginning in Florida, Vermont, North Carolina, and Chicago/Missouri.  The lack of infrastructure investment in this transformational program is a missed opportunity, and—with the U.S. construction industry unemployment rate hovering around 20% in June—foregoes a much needed job creation initiative.

Trains Make Strides in Energy Efficiency

The case for increased passenger train investment was strengthened by the Department of Energy’s latest annual Transportation Energy Data Book (released June 30), which shows that Amtrak’s trains are now an even more energy efficiency way to travel, especially compared to cars and planes.

In 2008—measured on a per-passenger-mile basis—Amtrak improved from 2007 both in absolute terms and relative to cars and domestic air service.  Amtrak in 2008 was more energy efficient than cars and airlines, respectively, by 20% and 30% (up from 19% and 28% in 2007).  Amtrak’s 2008 performance was 4.7% improved as the railroad used 2,398 BTUs per passenger-mile, down from 2,516 in 2007.

It is also noteworthy that Amtrak in 2008 was 34% more energy efficient than personal trucks; personal trucks account for a significant amount of travel – 1.7 trillion passenger-miles vs. 2.6 trillion for cars.

##

» back to new releases page