Senators from Northeast urge full funding for Amtrak

WASHINGTON — Senators representing states along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor said Thursday the Senate Appropriations Committee should approve all $2 billion the passenger rail service is seeking when the committee takes up a fiscal 2016 transportation spending bill.

The Democratic senators criticized a vote in the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee last week that approved a $251 million cut for Amtrak to $1.14 billion.

"I think what we have here is a Republican roadblock toward the greater economic future,'' Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said at Thursday's press conference. "We have a Republican roadblock towards greater safety in our transportation system and we have a Republican roadblock towards a better quality of life.''

Their comments followed last week's derailment of a Northeast Regional passenger train in Philadelphia that killed eight people and injured 200 after the train entered a curve at more than twice the 50 mph speed limit.

The deadly derailment could have been prevented if accident-avoidance equipment known as "positive train controls'' (PTC) had been operating on that section of track, according to Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Amtrak should not have to choose between safety options such as PTC equipment and bridge repair, said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., noting that PTC is expensive to install. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday that local transit agency SEPTA Regional Rail is spending $300 million to install PTC by the end of this year.

The American Public Transportation Association representing the commuter rail lines industry estimates that at least $3.48 billion is needed to implement PTC nationally.

Amtrak needs $21 billion over five years just to keep the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington in "good repair,'' Senate Democrats said, citing a report by the Northeast Corridor Commission.

Menendez cited the need to replace the Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River in his state. The 105-year-old swing bridge, a critical link for rail traffic into New York City, sometimes doesn't lock back into place after opening for marine traffic.

The Senate Appropriations Committee hasn't said when it might take up the fiscal 2016 transportation bill.

Appropriations bills moving through both the House and Senate incorporate spending levels based on mandatory sequestration cuts in many domestic programs.. Democrats in both chambers have urged their Republican colleagues to negotiate a deal with the Obama administration that would end sequestration, which was created under the Budget Control Act of 2011 after Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on a long-term plan to cut the national debt.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats are assuming that congressional Republicans and the administration will eventually agree on higher spending levels for fiscal 2016.

"Even without it, Amtrak as we've seen, needs funding,'' he said.

Congress has set a Dec. 31 deadline for railroads to install PTC technology, but most commuter and freight railroads won't be able to meet that deadline.

Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to vote by the end of the week to approve a House-passed measure that would temporarily extend the life of the Highway Trust Fund through the end of July without any new revenue.

The trust fund includes a transit account that funds commuter railroads.

Advocates who favor a long-term plan for replenishing the fund with new revenue note that a significant funding increase would help address not only crumbling bridges and roads, but also urgent rail improvements.

On Thursday, the Federal Railroad Administration issued an emergency order requiring Amtrak to use existing "automatic train controls'' to restrict trains to 50 mph as they approach the curve where last week's accident occurred, a step Amtrak already has taken.