Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008

PASSENGER RAIL INVESTMENT AND IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 11, 2008)

Ms. DeLAURO. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment.

Connecticut has seen a 5.5 percent increase in commuter rail usage over the first quarter of 2008 alone. As gas prices continue to skyrocket, more Americans than ever are looking for new ways to get where they are going without filling their gas tank.

While thousands of Connecticut residents who live in the southern portion of the State are well served by Metro North and the Shoreline East commuter rail, there remains hardly any commuter rail options in the central portion of our State through Hartford and up to Springfield, Massachusetts. Yet New England's traffic has increased 2 to 3 times faster than its population since 1990. When 80 percent of Connecticut commuters drive to work by themselves, we must provide a better alternative.

I want to commend Chairman Oberstar for his hard work on this bill. I congratulate my colleague, Mr. Murphy, whose amendment expresses support for current discussions between Amtrak and the Connecticut Department of Transportation to create a cooperative framework by which an Amtrak-owned New Haven-Springfield rail line could serve as the conduit for increased commuter rail run by Connecticut DOT. And his amendment also requires a report to Congress on uncompleted infrastructure maintenance.

Expanded commuter rail service on the New Haven-Springfield line will result in an estimated 630,000 more trips a year and over 2 million passenger miles annually. The demand is there. The benefits are clear.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I thank Chairman Oberstar, and I thank you graciously, Mr. Shuster, for allowing me to take the time.

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