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[CNJRoss]

National Journal, 4/22:

 

The Long-Running Battle Over Long-Distance Trains
Congress is battling once again over what to do with the Amtrak routes that don't make money.

 

April 22, 2015 Amtrak has 15 long-distance routes that crisscross the United States over some 18,000 miles. They lose money. They likely will always lose money.

 

Yet time and again, Congress has found just enough money to keep all the trains running. And time and again, a cadre of conservatives has gotten irritated about it, pointing out that the rail network was originally envisioned as a for-profit corporation.

 

Now, Congress is coming to terms with the uncomfortable truth: If elected officials want passenger trains to go long distances (say, through their states), the federal government will probably have to pay for them. This is the underlying theme of legislation to authorize funding for Amtrak that sailed through the House in March. If the bill is enacted, Amtrak could no longer automatically use revenues from its profitable Northeastern Corridor—which functions mainly as a commuter network—to bolster its long-distance lines.

 

"We really need to see in different business units. How much are we spending? How much are we losing? And figure out if there's a way to at least get them up to breaking even," House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster said in an interview.

 

The House-passed measure deliberately puts Amtrak's "national network" of long-distance routes in dire straits.  .  .  .

 

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Hill, 4/29:
 

Durbin slams GOP plan for Amtrak

 

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sharply criticized a House Republican plan to separate Amtrak’s popular rail service in the northeastern U.S. from money-losing routes in the rest of the country on Wednesday. 

 

The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate said Wednesday in a letter to the chairman of the upper chamber's Transportation Committee that the plan would harm rail service in his home state, which he said historically helped finance trains in the northeast.   

 

“Severing the Northeast Corridor [NEC] from the rest of America’s passenger rail network would put the popular corridor service in the Midwest, especially in Illinois, in jeopardy,” he wrote to Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.).   

 

“Taxpayer funds in Illinois and other Midwest states throughout the years have helped make the NEC successful and profitable,” he continued. “I am deeply concerned about this proposal and look forward to working with the Committee on a solution that ensures the health and growth of a nation-wide system.”

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

KFVS-TV (CBS), Cape Girardeau, MO, 4/29:
 

Sen. Durbin meets with SIU president to discuss Amtrak

 

CARBONDALE, IL (KFVS) - US Senator Dick Durbin D-IL met with Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn on Wednesday.

 

According to a news release, the meeting was held to discuss higher education issues and the importance of state and federal funding for Amtrak to the university community.

 

Sen. Durbin and President Dunn talked about the impact proposed state budget cuts could have on passenger service to downstate Illinois communities.

 

Durbin urged members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Wednesday to increase federal funding for passenger rail.

 

Continue here w/video report.

[Sloan]

 

The AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD) said Tuesday that the Senate should take up a $7.8 billion funding bill for Amtrak that was passed earlier this year by the House. 

 

http://thehill.com/p...-amtrak-funding

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 5/15:
 

GOP on defensive over charges that it’s underfunded Amtrak

 

Hours after the Amtrak 188 train derailment, Democrats were hammering Republicans for not investing enough in the nation’s infrastructure.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board has said that if the train had been equipped with positive train control technology, which detects speeding, the accident would not have occurred. Amtrak has installed it on some tracks and trains as mandated by Congress in 2008, but funds are stretched thin and the industry has said it needs more time.

 

On CNN Friday morning, the House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) pushed back hard on a line of questioning about whether the Congress should be held accountable for what happened.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

AP, 5/21:
 

Senate Democrats demand more money for Amtrak repair backlog

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats on Thursday demanded that Republicans provide more money for Amtrak so the railroad can tackle a $21 billion maintenance and repair backlog, including replacing tunnels more than a century old.

 

Democrats at a news conference cited last week's deadly crash in Philadelphia and said the backlog is compromising safety and service.

 

SNIP

 

"Throughout the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak has some infrastructure that is so old, it was built and put into service when Jesse James and Butch Cassidy were still alive and robbing trains," said Senator Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

 

More here.