Amtrak hires KPMG to develop plans

WASHINGTON – Amtrak, the U.S. taxpayer-supported passenger railroad, hired KPMG LLP to assist in developing a business and financial plan to have 220-mph service between Washington and Boston by 2040, Bloomberg News reported last week.
KPMG and team members Steer Davies Gleave, DWH Strategic Advisors, Sharon Greene & Associates and TranSystems will help identify funding sources and maximize private investment, Amtrak said in an emailed statement.
“It is a transformational project, and we have some great expectations in terms of private-sector interest,” Al Engel, Amtrak’s high-speed rail vice president, said at a press conference today at the railroad’s Washington headquarters.
The KPMG-led study will determine the market for private-sector investment in high-speed rail service between Washington and Boston, Engel said. The study results are due in May.
Amtrak had asked investors to submit proposals by June 10 to help finance its $117 billion plan for high-speed service in the Northeast Corridor.
Amtrak would operate the service as part of its plan, Engel said. U.S. Rep. John Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House transportation committee, has proposed a bill to transfer ownership of the Northeast Corridor from Amtrak to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which would then solicit bids from investors to develop and operate high-speed service.
Amtrak on May 9 was awarded $450 million from $2 billion in U.S. rail grants that Florida rejected to upgrade a 24-mile track segment in New Jersey and outside of Philadelphia to support trains running up to 160 mph. &#8226