Railroads

Amtrak will test running trains on its Acela line at higher speed this week, the company said. 

Acela trains currently have a maximum speed of 150 miles per hour, but Amtrak said Monday it would run empty trains in four places on the route at 165 miles per hour. 

The tests will allow the company to evaluate the possible of increasing the speed of the trains to 160 miles per hour, Amtrak said. 

"The tests will utilize high-speed Acela Express equipment and will measure the interaction between the train and the track, rider quality and other safety factors," the company said in a news release. 

The AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD) is calling for Republicans to stop holding hearings criticizing Amtrak.

Republicans in the House have promised to hold at least three more hearings about Amtrak in a campaign the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has reportedly called a "holy jihad" against wasteful spending by the national passenger rail service.

But AFL-CIO TTD President Ed Wytkind said Monday that it was Republicans in the House who were the ones being wasteful.

"Rep. John Mica (R-FL) continued his 'holy jihad' against Amtrak, its 30 million riders and thousands of employees last week by holding his 10th hearing in the 112th Congress demonizing Amtrak," Wytkind wrote in a blog post on the union's website.

"The last three by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee focused on what Mica thinks is wasteful Amtrak spending," he said. "Speaking of waste, let me point out that the committee has spent more than 20 hours in hearings — paid for by taxpayers — to make this case. ... Enough already — we’ve seen this movie and each sequel is worse than the previous one."

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Friday was the end of a "pretty big week" for the advancement of high-speed railways in the United States. 

In a blog post on the Department of Transportation's website, LaHood touted grants given to North Carolina and Virginia to increase the speed of trains running between Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, N.C. 

The grants, which total about $100 million dollars, will move "forward on President Obama's vision of American high speed rail in the Southeast," LaHood said. 

Republicans in the House promised Thursday to continue scrutinizing Amtrak through the lame-duck session at the end of the year. 

For a second consecutive week, the GOP-led House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee met to criticize the national passenger rail service. This week's topic was the approximately $1 billion in subsidies Amtrak has received annually from the federal government since it was created to replace a network of independent railways in 1971.

Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said the panel's examination of Amtrak was just getting started. 

"I'm very committed to reforming passenger rail service," he said, promising there would be at least three more hearings this Congress about Amtrak's finances and operations. 

“Taxpayers have been footing the bill for Amtrak’s gravy train for over forty years, and all they’ve gotten in return for their $40 billion investment is an inefficient, costly, Soviet-style passenger rail system," he added in a statement after the meeting.  

Your morning transportation speed-read: 

The Federal Railroad Administration has approved the construction plan for the first leg of a controversial proposed high-speed railway in California. 

Flight cancellations on American Airlines have spiked since the airline has gone through its bankruptcy proceedings. 

Air Canada is launching a low-cost subsidiary. 

German automaker Volkswagen has reported that sales of its Passat model have surpassed other midsize cars this year. 

A pair of Midwestern rail groups is defending Amtrak ahead of a Republican-led hearing to criticize subsidies to the national passenger rail service.

GOP lawmakers have hammered Amtrak in recent months and are planning to focus Thursday on the approximately $1 billion in subsidies per year the company has received since it was set up by Congress in 1971.

However, the Midwest High Speed Rail Association (MHSRA) and the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) said in a report released this week that it was money well spent because long-distance railways were “multipurpose mobility machines."

“The value of long-distance train routes is often overlooked because of the misconception that air travel has made such routes obsolete,” the groups wrote. 

Republicans in the House are planning to continue their campaign against Amtrak this week.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing Thursday to investigate "41 Years of Taxpayer Subsidies" to the national passenger rail service. 

The committee held a hearing last week about the effect of what Republicans have termed Amtrak’s “monopoly mentality” on commuter rail service in the U.S. 

This week, the GOP will discuss the approximately $1 billion in subsidies per year Amtrak has received since it was set up by Congress in 1971. 

Your morning transportation speed-read: 

Employees at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport have been accused of stealing 100,000 mini-bottles of liquor. 

A type of rail car that is commonly used to haul hazardous materials appears to have a major design flaw. 

A pair of pedestrians were struck by Philadelphia's Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) trains. 

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has named one of its bomb-sniffing dogs after a victim of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.  

Republicans in the House are picking up where they left off before the congressional recess when it comes to Amtrak: hammering the national passenger rail service for being inefficient. 

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released a report Tuesday arguing that Amtrak should privatize more of its rail service, which has been a longtime Republican goal. 

“We already know that Amtrak’s losses in food and beverage service are a staggering $833 million over the last decade," Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said in a statement. 

"Now we know that Amtrak wastes the taxpayers’ money bidding on commuter rail contracts that it cannot win, and that hundreds of millions of dollars in savings can be realized if the private sector is given a chance to compete with Amtrak in commuter rail and passenger rail service," he continued.

Congress returns to Washington this week after a monthlong recess, and Republicans in the House are planning to pick up where they left off — bashing Amtrak.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday about the effect of Amtrak’s “monopoly mentality” on commuter rail service in the U.S.

Amtrak was set up by Congress to be the national passenger rail service in 1971, and receives about $1 billion in subsidies.