Legislation

No Picture
Amtrak

Amtrak Planning to Acquire New Next-Generation High-Speed Train Sets

December 17, 2012 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON – Amtrak is advancing plans to acquire new next-generation high-speed train sets and ending its plans to purchase 40 additional high-speed passenger cars to add to the existing Acela Express fleet. In early 2013, Amtrak will issue a Request for Information (RFI) to formally start the process that will replace the existing 20 Acela Express train sets and add additional train sets to expand seating capacity and provide for more frequent high-speed service on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), the railroad said. “Moving directly to new high-speed train sets is the best option to create more seating capacity, permit higher
No Picture
Amtrak

Mica: Focus High Speed Rail Construction on NEC

December 9, 2012 Railfanning.org News Wire
If the country is going to build high-speed rail, its focus should be squarely on the densely populated Northeast Corridor (NEC), especially considering the highway and air congestion in the region, and the existing connections to other transportation modes, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., contends. The NEC is the only segment of rail primarily owned by Amtrak rather than the freight railroads. He stated that while the Administration has invested some in the NEC, it’s been in a piecemeal, half-baked fashion. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Members, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Department of Transportation Inspector General highlighted
No Picture
Amtrak

Boardman: Amtrak ‘provided a high return on the limited Federal investment’

September 23, 2012 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — Amtrak “has provided a high return on the limited Federal investment we’ve received,” Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman told Congress. “[P]assenger rail has received only a tiny portion of the annual Federal transportation budget,” Boardman said in his written testimony. “To give just one example, in the past four years the Federal government has appropriated $53.3 billion from the General Fund of the Treasury to bail out the Highway Trust Fund. That’s almost 30% more than the total Federal expenditure on Amtrak since 1971 [$39.3 billion]. “Federal expenditures on Amtrak during the past 41 years pale next
No Picture
FRA

Federal Railroad Administration, OSHA Sign Agreement to Protect Railroad Workers from Retaliation

July 23, 2012 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) signed an agreement to improve coordination between the two agencies in enforcing the whistleblower provision of the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA). The FRSA protects employees from retaliation when they report safety violations to the government or report work-related personal injuries or illnesses. “Safety is our highest priority and this agreement is an important step in providing protections for those who report unsafe conditions,” said FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo. “Establishing a formal process for safeguarding the rights
No Picture
Amtrak

Amtrak: Top Five Priorities of Amtrak for Next Surface Transportation Bill

April 14, 2011 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON –“The development of intercity passenger rail and Amtrak’s national system should be afforded a significant role in the nation’s federal surface transportation programs,” said Joe McHugh, Amtrak vice president for government affairs and corporate communications in written testimony recently provided to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads.