U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined 13 of her colleagues on Tuesday in urging Senate Appropriations leadership to support funding for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (IPR) grant program in the fiscal year 2024 spending legislation. While the committee-passed U.S. Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill included $100 million for this account, House Republicans have proposed zeroing it out, which would dramatically hinder ongoing work to improve rail infrastructure in the Northeast and across the country.
“While the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) provided five years of guaranteed funding for the Federal-State Partnership grant program, this funding was always intended to be supplemental to annually appropriated dollars. The IIJA also authorized up to $1.5 billion for IPR grants in fiscal year 2024. The IIJA investment alone is not sufficient to fully address the nation’s rail state-of-good-repair (SOGR) backlog nor to fully improve and expand intercity passenger rail in a way that America deserves,” the senators wrote.
The senators highlighted the importance of funding projects in the Northeast Corridor: “The NEC’s SOGR backlog stands at well over $40 billion, representing a serious threat to the nation’s economy. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Amtrak and commuter railroads on the NEC transported more than 800,000 people per weekday, and the workforce that travels on the NEC contributes roughly $50 billion annually to the economy. However, the specter of the SOGR backlog causing delays or track closures is a constant concern. According to the Northeast Corridor Commission, ‘the loss of the NEC for a single day could cost the country $100 million in added congestion, productivity losses, and other transportation impacts.’ If Congress does not make the necessary investments, disruptions will become more frequent and more severe over time.”
The senators concluded: “On behalf of our millions of constituents who depend on a safe and reliable passenger rail network and also those who deserve access to passenger rail but do not have it as a meaningful option today, we urge the Subcommittee to vigorously defend the $100 million appropriation for FY 2024 for the Federal-State Partnership for IPR program.”
U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Angus King (I-Maine), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also signed the letter.
Full text of the letter is below.
