National Rail Plan needs to recognize value of Amtrak’s intercity passenger rail network

Amtrak is urging the Federal Railroad Administration to be bold and unambiguous in its vision for the future of the national rail system, including the Amtrak network, as it develops a long-range National Rail Plan (NRP).

"Amtrak’s existing
national intercity passenger rail system should be recognized in the NRP as the
foundation for the development of an expanded network of high-speed and conventional
rail services spanning key corridors across the United States," said Amtrak
Vice President, Policy and Development Stephen Gardner.

Gardner explained that
Amtrak is America’s intercity passenger railroad and the only high-speed rail
service provider in North America. In addition, Amtrak’s current network of high-speed
services in the Northeast Corridor, short-distance corridor services run in
partnership with the states, and overnight long-distance services spanning the
nation, is a solid base on which to build a truly 21^st-Century
national intercity passenger rail system.

"The NRP should lay out a
clear national vision for this network and contain strategies for improving and
expanding intercity passenger rail services where such service can advance key
national priorities like congestion relief, transportation safety,
energy-efficiency, environmental protection, and sustainable development," he
stated.

In written comments
submitted to the FRA, Amtrak said that as a company chartered by the federal
government and overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the final NRP
should address the Department’s views on Amtrak, its future and its role in
delivering the type of modern and efficient intercity passenger rail service
envisioned in the preliminary NRP.

Amtrak also believes that
the NRP should establish clear federal performance goals for each segment of
the passenger and freight rail system, and should link those goals to strategic
national outcomes. Furthermore, the NRP needs to develop specific targets and
milestones for system development and performance that can be used to measure
national progress.

When addressing the goal
of developing high-speed passenger rail, for instance, Amtrak is recommending a
specific target be set to connect all pairs of metropolitan areas with populations
of one million or more, and separated by less than 600 miles, with frequent,
reliable, high-speed intercity passenger rail service.

In addition, Amtrak said
that matching intercity rail development plans to appropriate markets must be a
key aspect of the NRP, noting that in a nation as big as the United States, not
all travel markets will require the same levels of service. In some cases,
high-speed, very frequent rail service may be necessary to create a viable
alternative to existing travel options, while conventional intercity service
may be more appropriate for other corridors where the market may be smaller.

Amtrak also stressed that
in order for intercity passenger rail to become a viable travel alternative to
the nation’s highway and aviation systems, the NRP must recognize that
intercity passenger rail service needs to be both accessible and well-connected
to final destinations through local transit options and that developed
corridors will need to be connected into a coherent national network.

Finally, Amtrak noted
that federal intercity passenger rail development funding is essential to
sustaining and improving the current network and that the best strategy to fund
high-speed and intercity passenger rail investment is one that establishes a
dedicated source of reliable, predictable, and multi-year funds to support
capital grants to both Amtrak and states.

Amtrak recently
participated in a series of public meetings hosted by FRA on the NRP.