DALLAS — Amtrak's $1 billion/year federal subsidy would be cut by 40% and the passenger rail operator would be required to invest profits from operations in the Northeast Corridor to projects located there under legislation introduced on Thursday by a bipartisan group of leaders from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The proposal authorizes up to $600 million of matching federal funds over four years for state and local projects aimed at improving the reliability and performance of passenger service in the 450-mile rail corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C. It also encourages Amtrak to seek private partners for development of downtown rail stations and other real estate it owns.
The Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2014, HR 5449, is sponsored by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and ranking minority member Rep. Nick Joe Rahall, D-W.Va. Other sponsors include Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., chairman of the transportation committee's panel on railroads, and ranking minority subcommittee member Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla.
"Congress can either sit back while Amtrak and our passenger rail system continue to muddle along without reforms and without improvements, or we can take significant steps forward in improving Amtrak's transparency and cost-effectiveness, and compelling it to operate like a true business should," Shuster said.
Rahall said he supports the bill because unlike earlier Republican proposals it does not eliminate federal subsidies for Amtrak passenger service on its 17 long-distance routes.
"This bill provides much-needed investments in the long-distance network and ensures continuation of all long-distance trains, including the Cardinal Route that runs through southern West Virginia," he said.
No hearings have been set for the measure and time may run out for its adoption in the current session.
Passenger rail operations in the Northeast corridor generated $400 million of profits for the National Railroad Passenger Corp., Amtrak's official name, in 2013 but the money is not now dedicated to capital projects within the area.
Unlike earlier passenger rail bills, this latest proposal creates separate accounts for capital projects within the Northeast Corridor and projects across the country.
The proposal would fund corridor efforts with $439 million in fiscal 2015 and ramp that up to $498 million by fiscal 2018. Projects outside the corridor would receive $973 million in fiscal 2015 and $997 million by 2018.
The Northeast Corridor is the most heavily trafficked rail section in the United States, with more than 200 million riders a year. Daily traffic includes 200 Amtrak trains and 1,800 commuter trains.
Denham said the bill encourages private investments and innovative public-private partnerships that could lead to future reductions in Amtrak's federal subsidies.
The Northeast Corridor, with its proven passenger rail and commuter rail ridership, is an ideal area to use innovative finance to address needed improvements, he said.
Amtrak would be required to study development opportunities for downtown rail stations and then work with private-sector partners on feasible station projects. Proposals would also be sought for public-private uses of existing railroad right-of-ways.
States would be able to tap into a special dedicated federal loan fund for Northeast Corridor projects.
The separate fund would be part of the Federal Railroad Administration's Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program.
The fund can provide up to 100% financing for a railroad project with repayment periods of up to 35 years.
The fund, which is authorized to lend up to $35 billion, has closed on $980 million of loans since 2009. That total includes a $562.9 million loan to Amtrak.
