Transportation chairman to outline plan to boost private investment in Northeast rail

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) will lay out his plan to fund improvements to rail service in the Northeast using private investments Thursday, his office said Wednesday.

Mica will chair a full meeting of the 58-member committee, where he will talk about alternatives using government dollars to build high-speed rail. Mica has harshly criticized the Obama administration for offering money to Amtrak and states outside the Northeast to build trains.

Three Republican governors have rebuffed the offers, and recently $2.4 billion in money that was set aside for Florida was redistributed to 15 states.

Mica said Amtrak, which he repeatedly criticized as a "Soviet-style operation," could not efficiently handle the work needed to increase the speed of trains in the Northeast and build more there.

"While there is a need and great potential for high-speed rail in this congested corridor, Amtrak’s $117 billion 30-year plan to upgrade (northeast corridor) service is unacceptable," Mica's office said in a statement. "Amtrak has not proven itself capable of managing large-scale projects, 30 years is too long, and the cost is much too high.
 
"Thursday’s hearing will provide an opportunity to discuss an alternative for a public-private partnership model that relies on private sector competition to help finance, design, build, operate and maintain NEC high-speed rail services," the statement announcing the meeting continued.

Scheduled speakers include Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who chairs the Senate Surface Transportation subcommittee, as well as U.S. High Speed Rail Association Vice President Thomas Hart and AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department President Edward Wytkind.