Murphy Requests $555 Million For New Northeast Corridor Safety Improvement Fund

Today, in wake of last week's fatal derailment of a New York-bound Amtrak train, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD), and Related Agencies Subcommittee, called on U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, to ensure that the Northeast Corridor gets all of the investments it needs to provide safe passage for the millions of customers who travel along its rail lines each year. Murphy requested that the Chairwoman and Ranking Member work alongside him to provide flexibility from the Budget Control Act, which imposes draconian annual spending caps on the Subcommittee, and to dedicate a $555.8 million capital fund proposed for the Northeast Corridor in President Obama's budget to rail safety improvements in the stretch of rail from Boston to Washington D.C.. The fund -- which would be the first of its kind dedicated to the Northeast Corridor -- would be used to address dangerous conditions along the tracks due to decades of deferred capital projects.

The Northeast Corridor, the busiest rail route in the nation, needs upwards of $52 billion in investments over the next 20 years just to keep current assets, including rail, bridges, and tunnels, in a state-of-good-repair. Murphy believes it is Congress's responsibility to make the investments needed to make rail travel safer and more reliable.

In a separate letter earlier this year, Murphy called on Collins and Reed to fully fund President Obama's PRIIA Section 212 Capital Grant request to upgrade the Northeast Corridor's infrastructure and to address the backlog of state-of-good-repair projects along the rail line.

"The terrible tragedy in Philadelphia is only the most recent reminder of the tremendous backlog of basic repairs and safety upgrades we have accumulated as the result of years of underinvestment in this critical asset. I write to reiterate my earlier request to the Committee for full funding of the PRIIA Section 212 Capital Grant request, and incorporate those funds into a Northeast Corridor Safety Grant Program to help target desperately needed rail safety and basic infrastructure improvements along the Corridor. This request is consistent with the President's budget request, and was born out of the recommendations made by the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Operations Advisory Commission. I look forward to working with you to robustly fund programs that are mutually important to our constituents."

Source