The Appropriations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development amended its FY 2019 spending bill to include $1.9 billion in new funding for Amtrak, including $650 million dedicated to repairing and modernizing the Northeast Corridor rail system. The Subcommittee also proposed raising funding for Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair grants to $500 million from the $250 million previously approved in FY 2018.
In response, the Coalition for the Northeast Corridor (CNEC), which represents major business and institutional leaders along the Corridor, released the following statement:
“Under the leadership of Congressmen Mario Diaz-Balart and Rodney Frelinghuysen, the Subcommittee has just taken a significant step toward strengthening the American economy and addressing our most urgent infrastructure challenge. We applaud this sensible push to increase federal investment in repairing and modernizing the Northeast Corridor, which is the nation’s most economically vital rail network — helping to support trillions of dollars in productivity – but is literally crumbling under the weight of its own aging, dilapidated infrastructure.
“We hope all members of Congress will support increasing investment in the Northeast Corridor because this is not simply a regional issue — it is a national priority that will become a national economic crisis if left unaddressed. All Americans should be pleased that the Subcommittee is stepping up to champion economic growth – and we look forward to continuing this discussion over the weeks and months to come.”
