Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008
Floor Speech
Mr. Chairman, I've got to say that one of the joys of serving in this Congress is serving on this Transportation and Infrastructure Committee with Mr. Oberstar, who is the guru of transportation, not just for Amtrak, but every single area of transportation. And for helping to develop this Amtrak bill. Eleven years without a bill. The last authorization was 11 years ago.
And of course I want to thank Mr. Mica for his leadership in this area, and Mr. Shuster, and also Mr. LaTourette, because I want people to know that we didn't just come up with this bill today. This is a bill we've been working on for years. And this is an exciting day for the American people, a real milestone.
The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act provides over $2 billion per year for capital and operational grants, $500 million per year for developing State passenger corridors, $345 million per year to pay down debt, $345 million per year for high-speed rail programs, and requires a plan for restoring service to the Sunset Limited Line.
Amtrak's improved physical state and recent focus on customers service, along with increased highways and airport congestion and rising gas prices, have made intercity passenger rail more popular and necessary than ever.
In Fiscal Year 2007, Amtrak carried more than 25.8 million passengers, the fifth straight fiscal year of record ridership. Like its ridership gains, Amtrak's financial performance has improved as well, posting approximately $1.5 billion in ticket revenue, a gain of 10.8 percent over 2006 ticket revenue, and the third consecutive year that ticket revenues increased.
More than just a convenient way to travel, Amtrak is also energy efficient. Rail travel is more energy efficient and uses less fuel than cars or airplanes. According to the U.S. Department of Energy data, Amtrak is 17 percent more efficient than domestic airline travel and 21 percent more efficient than automobile travel.
And let me just say that there is no mode of transportation that pays for itself. We all subsidize every form of transportation.
Current initiatives include a more sleek model, more efficient Auto Train fleet, reducing annual fuel usage by 640,000 gallons, and remanufacturing brake systems throughout the Amtrak fleet that will reduce energy consumption by 8 percent.
Passenger rail also reduces global warming. The average passenger rail train produces 60 percent lower carbon emissions than cars and 50 percent less than airplanes.
On May 10, Amtrak celebrated National Train Day by holding events throughout the country, over 60, to be exact, showcasing intercity passenger rail and its importance to this Nation. I celebrated National Train Day by holding events throughout my district, including press conferences and events in Jacksonville, Winter Park and at the Sanford Auto Train station. Every event had great turnout, showing strong support for Amtrak, and I got to hear firsthand accounts of people who use Amtrak every day to go to work, to visit friends and family all over the country.
Congress also showed strong support for Amtrak and passenger rail by passing legislation supporting National Train Day by 415-0.
Fifty years ago President Eisenhower created the national highway system, which really changed the way we travel in this country. Today we need to do the same thing with passenger rail, and make the level of investment necessary for it to become more successful in the future.
The American people deserve the best passenger rail in the world, and I believe that this Amtrak authorization will go a long way to raise the U.S. to its rightful place as a world leader in passenger rail.
Passing of H.R. 6003 will be the first major step in bringing our Nation's intercity passenger rail system to the 21st century. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote for the Passenger Rail Investment Improvement Act.
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