A U.S. House committee approved $6
billion in funding over three years for the government-owned
Amtrak passenger railroad and a $60 billion, 10-year package of
bonds and loans for improvements to speed up passenger trains.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in Washington
approved the increase in Amtrak’s operating subsidy and the rail-
improvement proposal by voice votes. Similar bills haven’t been
approved in the Senate, and appropriations committees in the House
and Senate also would have to sign off on any funding.
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“The fact that they were able to take this step is important
because this committee had some prominent critics of Amtrak,”
said Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of
Railroad Passengers advocacy group. “But the appropriations
process is where the real money is.”
Amtrak in April proposed a five-year plan that calls for
funding ranging from $1.8 billion in the fiscal year that starts
in October to $1.5 billion in the final year. The railroad lost a
record $1.2 billion in the year that ended in September and
received a $1.05 billion federal subsidy for its current year.
President George Bush’s administration has proposed $900
million for next fiscal year unless Amtrak cuts costs and attracts
more state support. Amtrak gets 40 percent of its operating budget
from the federal government.
The rail-improvement bill passed by the House committee would
let states that want faster trains sell as much as $24 billion in
tax-exempt or tax-credit bonds. The rest of the money for
improving tracks and equipment would come from federal loans or
private loans backed by U.S. guarantees.
U.S. passenger trains now are mostly limited to 79 miles per
hour outside the Northeast, where Amtrak’s Acela runs as fast as
150 mph on the railroad’s own tracks. Amtrak elsewhere uses tracks
owned by freight railroads such as Union Pacific Corp.
Bloomberg News
