Amtrak’s Coscia urges Congress to unlock passenger rail’s potential

Amtrak

According to Chairman of Amtrak's Board of Directors Anthony Coscia, Congress should focus on ways to unlock intercity passenger rail's potential by providing predictable, dedicated funding to develop and implement capital investments for the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and other rail corridors between America's major metropolitan areas.

During his testimony to a U.S. Senate Committee, Coscia said, “Amtrak’s growth over the past 10 years, especially on intercity corridors between 100-500 miles, hints at the tremendous opportunity of developing a robust, nationwide passenger rail system focused on city pairs. In such corridors throughout the globe, high-speed and higher-speed trains are not only an essential mode of transportation, but also a significant driver of local development and economic growth. America should fully embrace investments in passenger rail as a tool to strengthen our economy and improve the quality of our lives.”

He stated that despite the extraordinary growth in passenger rail demand in recent years, there is an unmet demand for high-quality rail service and the federal government has declined to establish a dedicated, long-term funding mechanism for rail comparable to the funding programs that have supported other modes of transportation.

Coscia said that when the new Congress convenes in January, it should consider approving the creation of a Transportation Trust Fund that recognizes the importance of intercity passenger rail in the nation’s transportation landscape, along with other modes of transportation. He noted that the United States’ transportation system is at a crossroads, as the investments that brought our nation into modernity in the last century reach the ends of their useful lives. A multi-year funding mechanism also would enable Amtrak to build major capital projects that would enable faster, more reliable rail travel between city pairs, contributing significantly to the nation’s economic growth.

“The key is capital investment – not just to sustain the legacy transportation systems that helped deliver our nation’s economic success over the 20th century, but those that will help us to sustain America’s transportation needs in the decades ahead,” he said.

Congress released details of fiscal year 2015 spending on Dec. 9, which includes $1.39 billion for Amtrak.