Highway funding bill is good news for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor
$2.6 billion worth of good news.
Congressional leaders of both parties are confident they will be able to pass a five-year, $305 billion highway transportation bill in a vote later this week.
One particular beneficiary of that bill is Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, the heavily trafficked route between Washington, D.C. and Boston that carries about 750,000 riders per day.
The new act, called Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST), puts funding levels for Amtrak at $1.45 billion in 2016, rising up to $1.8 billion in 2020 [PDF]. In a first, the bill specifies that $2.6 billion would go just to the Northeast Corridor over those five years, while $5.4 billion would go to Amtrak’s National Network.
Designating those funds should make it easier for Amtrak to inject some capital into the Northeast Corridor. Ridership is at an all-time high along the Northeast Corridor, yet the route remains in a crumbling, aged state and is chronically underfunded to make necessary improvements, according to transportation experts.
Those infrastructure issues were never more clear than when an Amtrak train derailed near Philadelphia in May, killing eight people. Officials said the crash could have been prevented if a computerized speed-limiting system had been in place along that part of the track.
The five-year funding plan should provide some long-term assurances for Amtrak. Just a few years ago, Mitt Romney promised to end the federal subsidy to Amtrak if elected.
The bill also provides more than $5 billion in funding for Massachusetts, an increase of almost 10 percent over current levels, according to Rep. Michael Capuano.
Photos: Amtrak train derails near Philadelphia.
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