Amtrak says it needs an additional $1.475 billion in supplemental funding for the 2021 fiscal year. The passenger railroad outlined its request in a letter it submitted to Congress.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is making over $1 billion available to Amtrak to support the railroad’s activities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the spread of COVID-19.
The nation’s railroads are increasing their investments in new technology diesel engines and repowering and replacement of existing locomotives, according to the Diesel Technology Forum.
Amtrak continues to advance efforts to improve infrastructure along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) by launching a pilot project focused on rehabilitating the 147-year-old Baltimore & Potomac (B&P) Tunnel.
The first of Amtrak’s 28 new Acela trainsets will be leaving from Alstom’s facility in Hornell, N.Y., for high-speed testing at the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colo.
The majority of the 42 railroads subject to the statutory implementation requirement are operating PTC systems in revenue service or in advanced field testing, known as revenue service demonstration (RSD), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently toured the Gateway Tunnel in a bid expose damage and called on the feds to fund their portion of the cost of repairs.
Amtrak saw a 1.3 percent increase in riders last fiscal year, including a 3.7 percent increase in ridership on long-distance trains, the railroad said.