Railroads

Incoming House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said Wednesday that he sees the potential for compromise on legislation involving Amtrak funding.

Speaking to reporters at the Capitol hours after formally being elected chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Shuster adopted a less confrontational tone regarding Amtrak than has marked the panel's tenor under Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.). 

Mica pushed hard in 2011 to privatize Amtrak service in the Northeast, which is its most profitable corridor. Shuster supported the effort, which was fiercely opposed by Democrats.  

But the long-time Pennsylvania lawmaker said Wednesday that there was potential to find "common ground" on Amtrak funding next year.

Democrats and Amtrak officials pushed back Wednesday against House Republican efforts to eliminate federal subsidies for the national passenger rail service.

The venue for the rail funding fracas was a hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where lawmakers debated the approximately $1 billion per year Amtrak has received in federal subsidies since it was created by Congress in 1971.

Republicans on the Transportation Committee have long argued that Amtrak should be able to generate enough money from ticket sales to pay for the operation of its trains.

But a Democratic member of the panel, Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), said lawmakers spend far more in support of other industries without complaint.

“We spent more in one year with the oil and gas and energy companies and their industry than we have spent in the life of the program of Amtrak,” said Richardson, who is leaving office at the end of the year.

House Republicans have scheduled their anticipated hearing on Amtrak funding for Wednesday morning.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday to review Amtrak's reorganization plans. The hearing is a part of an ongoing GOP effort to question Amtrak's approximately $1 billion federal subsidy, which many Republican lawmakers allege wastes taxpayer dollars.

Supporters of the company have argued that the combination of President Obama winning reelection and recent ridership records for Amtrak have strengthened the railway's hand on Capitol Hill.

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Amtrak has begun running trains at 110 miles per hour on part of its Chicago-to-St. Louis route, the company announced Monday.

The Midwest trains will hit the new top speed on a 15-mile stretch of Amtrak tracks between Dwight and Pontiac, Ill., as part of the company's Lincoln service.

The agency had been testing the increase in October.

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House Republicans will hold hearings next week on Amtrak, which Transportation Chairman Mica is targeting for cuts despite record ridership. 

Your morning transportation speed-read:

New Jersey commuters are unhappy with the pace of rail recovery in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has ruled that there were no distress signals from a police helicopter that crashed in Atlanta.

A plane crashed en route to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety conference.

Regional airports are betting on revenue guarantees to lure airlines to service them.

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) is praising Amtrak for reopening a rail tunnel that connects his state and New York City.

Lautenberg, who is a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said the national passenger rail service has reopened its "north tube," which carries Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains into New York City under the Hudson River.

The tunnel had been closed since sustaining damage during Superstorm Sandy.

Lautenberg said it was "good news" the tunnel has been reopened, but he said there was still work to do in the Sandy recovery effort.

“It’s good news for New Jersey that the tunnel is reopening, but damage remains and we won’t stop working until full service is restored for rail passengers,” Lautenberg said in a statement released by his office. 

President Obama's reelection is likely to ensure efforts to privatize Amtrak service and cut transportation funding will be unsuccessful. 

Unsuccessful Republican nominee Mitt Romney had repeatedly pledged to eliminate government funding for Amtrak, and GOP vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget would have limited transportation funding to revenues generated by the federal gas tax.

"I think Amtrak is safe and surface transportation levels are safe," Joshua Schank, president of the nonpartisan Eno Center for Transportation, said in an assessment of the election. 

"I'd be very surprised to see the president and a Democratic Senate accept a cut" to transportation funding, Schank continued. 

New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has restored partial bus service in the densely populated city that was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.

Several New York City subway stations remain deluged with water dumped on train tracks and platforms by the storm, but the MTA said it began running buses on a Sunday schedule on Tuesday evening.

The agency has said it is not charging fares for the rides, and it hopes to resume a nearly full weekday schedule by Wednesday.

“Our transportation system has never faced a disaster as devastating as Hurricane Sandy, which has caused an unparalleled level of damage,” MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota said in a statement.  “The challenge that we face now is one of assessment, inspection, repair, and restoration. This will not be a short process, but it will be one that puts safety as its major focus.”

Amtrak service in Northeastern states that were deluged by Hurricane Sandy remained canceled Tuesday, but the company said it was considering a “limited restoration” for Wednesday.

“Amtrak crews are currently inspecting tunnels, tracks, equipment and stations to assess the damage from Hurricane Sandy and are beginning to make the necessary repairs along Amtrak-owned sections of railroad in the Northeast, including the Northeast Corridor,” the company said in a statement.

“In addition, Amtrak is working closely with host railroads on whose tracks Amtrak trains operate to determine when passenger train service can resume operations on their railroads,” the Amtrak statement continued. “Necessary repairs include the removal of trees and other debris from the tracks and the overhead electrical power system, as well as track and signal repairs.”