Panel Approves $7.8 Billion for Amtrak

The Hill ^ | 12 February 2015 | Keith Laing

[Publius]

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday quietly approved nearly $8 billion in funding for Amtrak.

The measure calls for spending approximately $1.7 billion annually over the next four years on the rail service, a slight increase from the present level of funding.

Prior Amtrak funding debates in Washington have been contentious affairs, but lawmakers said this year's bill — which was approved unanimously — is fair to both supporters and critics of the national rail service.

"This is a good reform bill that firmly moves passenger rail towards greater transparency and accountability, and forces Amtrak to operate like a true business,” House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said in a statement after the bill's passage.

The top ranking Democrat on the Transportation panel said he agreed with the chairman's assessment.

“In every region of the country, passenger rail investments boost local economies and create thousands of family-wage construction, engineering, and manufacturing jobs," Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said. "This bill isn’t perfect — but it was a bipartisan effort that ultimately provides critical investments and system wide improvements to increase capacity and make our railways safer."

Since its inception in 1971, Amtrak has historically received about $1 billion per year from the government for operations and construction projects.

The measure that was approved on Thursday, known as the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment (PRRIA) Act, provides about $982 million per year for Amtrak's national network and another $470 million annually for its popular Northeast U.S. routes.

The bill, which would expire in 2019, appropriates another $300 million per year for construction on Amtrak routes in the rest of country and about $24 million per year for the company's inspector general.

[Rodamala]

Everyone needs to recognize that in the the government subsidized and roads and airports with Billions upon Billions... and about $5B of funding for highways and airports was generated between 1942 and 1962 by way of a 10% tax on rail fares... which originally was designed to curb rail travel during WWII.

This wealth redistribution scheme made it impossible for railroads (read as: businesses with bottom lines and shareholders to answer to) to continue in the for-profit passenger transportation business.

From 1921 to 1971 total Federal Subsidies of Highways, Aviation/Airports, and Waterways was $97,700,000,000.

From 1921 to 1971 total Federal Subsidies payed to Railroads was $65,000,000. That works out to 0.07% (rounded up) of the whole pie of Federal transportation spending prior to Amtrash.

Total Federal transportation funding from 1971 to 2001 for airlines and highways was $1,890,000,000,000. Amtrak funding for the same time period was $30,100,000,000, or 3.3%.

I don’t mean to be back-from-the-ZOT Undead WillieGreen Jr. here... but have a little perspective on the the amount of complete and total waste there is in transportation funding for roads and highways... and that essentially it was at the cost of PRIVATE ENTERPRISE through socialism, corporate welfare and capitalist cronyism.

It is ongoing today... and I would love to see all the all transportation deregulated and privatized. Consider that Florida East Coast wants to start up passenger service without a handout... they wouldn’t do it if they could not show profit to shareholders.

That, my FRiends is how the American system of free market capitalism should work... everything else is a scam at taxpayer expense.