This week in Transportation: Battle is joined over Amtrak privatization

Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will renew their push to privatize rail service in Amtrak's most profitable region this week. 

The hearing comes as President Obama and congressional leaders continue negotiations for a potential deficit deal that will mostly likely include numerous spending cuts.

The GOP has long argued that Amtrak's federal funding is a waste of taxpayers' money. To press that point, the House Transportation Committee will hold a hearing Thursday titled "Northeast Corridor Future: Options for High-Speed Rail Development and Opportunities for Private Sector Participation." 

Amtrak supporters have insisted that the company's political standing has been boosted by both President Obama's reelection and recent record ridership numbers. Aiming to counter that argument, Republicans have focused on the approximately $1 billion per year the company receives to subsidize its rail service.

Witnesses scheduled to testify at the hearing Thursday include Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman and Federal Railroad Administration Deputy Administrator Karen Hedlund.

The hearing is the last in a series initiated by outgoing Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) that has been designed to attack Amtrak's federal funding. The company has been been subsidized by Congress since it was created by Congress in 1971.

Other topics of Mica's hearing series have included the cost of Amtrak's food and beverage concession program and the company's structural reorganization plans.

Elsewhere, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) will release a survey of public transit ridership on Monday. The numbers will be released as Congress prepares to debate a reauthorization of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIAA) next year.

The PRIIA bill contains funding for Amtrak and other intercity railways.

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