Railroad Passengers Praise Economic Recovery Legislation
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- Written by Ross Capon
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Release #09-03—February 14, 2009
In a statement this morning, NARP President Ross Capon said,
“President Obama and the U.S. Congress deserve high praise for producing legislation that—by properly recognizing the value of passenger and freight trains—finally begins to move transportation policy in a genuinely new direction. With passenger rail a conspicuous beneficiary of the House-Senate conference, we are especially pleased to acknowledge reports that this was partly due to the personal involvement of President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“Responsibility for realizing the potential of this bill now rests with:
- Governors and state departments of transportation, to expeditiously complete applications for sound rail projects;
- Governors and state departments of transportation, to make appropriate use of the flexibility that lets some of the $27.5 billion in “highway” money go to passenger and freight train projects;
- The Secretary of Transportation, to create a sound strategic plan about how to use the rail funds;
- The Secretary of Transportation, to give applications for good rail projects prompt and favorable decisions;
- Amtrak, to commit its capital funding within the required 30 days;
- Amtrak, to use its funds to make clear its commitment to a truly national system with a dramatically improved resilience to, for example, Chicago winters; and
- Private railroads and commuter agencies, to take full advantage of the opportunities to fund important projects (including the Chicago-area CREATE project aimed at untangling congestion in the nation’s rail hub).
“NARP stands ready to offer help and support in this process.”
Details on the transportation elements of the stimulus are the lead story in our February 13 weekly news hotline.