It looks like $1.2 billion

I heard John McCain will become Secretary of Transportation......If this is true then Amtrak is doomed for good!

McCain was just re-elected, and is "not ruling out" a run for president in 2008, so I doubt that the rumor is true.

I think "under the table" in this sense means something like, "X million allocated for improvement of tunnel security" that comes out of the DHS budget, not the current Amtrak one.

njt4172 wrote:I heard John McCain will become Secretary of Transportation......If this is true then Amtrak is doomed for good!

:(

You know, I actually don't feel this way.

A couple of years ago when I read up on some of his comments, I'd say that I don't think he's as much anti-Amtrak so much as anti-failure.

In other words, I truly think that if he could be presented with a plan for intercity rail that he's convinced could work, he'd support it.

Ironically I think he has the potential of Nixon going to China. i.e. Win his support and Amtrak has it made.

He appears to be one of the people that Gunn is working on to gain credibility. (note that the Senate was the one that wanted to give $1.3 billion... $400 million more than the House). And who controls the Chairman of the Transportation Committee... hmm.

I'm a recent newcomer to railroad.net and the forums, and I haven't paid much attention to Amtrak funding until reading these posts. At first, I thought, well, 1.2B is already a lot of money and trying to find more would be a real burden....

HA!...

Then I read in my local paper this weekend that New Jersey alone receives around 2.8B just in federal transporation funds! Some (little?) of this probably goes to NJ Transit but I am sure the bulk of it goes to highway construction. It is well known here that Jersey receives much less back from the Feds than we pay to them in taxes. New Jersey is just one state of many, and if they can find 2.8B just for us, I find it hard to believe that Washington can't find an additional half-billion or so for Amtrak somewhere!

$ 1,217,000,000 to be exact.

Here are a few direct quotations from the final Conference Report:

GRANTS TO THE NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION

To enable the Secretary of Transportation to make quarterly grants to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, $1,217,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2005: Provided, That not less than $500,000,000 shall be provided in quarterly grants for capital expenses: Provided further, That the Secretary of Transportation shall approve funding to cover operating losses and capital expenditures, including advance purchase orders, for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation only after receiving and reviewing a grant request for each specific train route: Provided further, That each such grant request shall be accompanied by a detailed financial analysis, revenue projection, and capital expenditure projection justifying the Federal support to the Secretary's satisfaction: Provided further, That the Secretary of Transportation shall reserve $60,000,000 of the funds provided under this heading and is authorized to transfer such sums to the Surface Transportation Board, upon request from said Board, to carry out directed service orders issued pursuant to section 11123 of title 49, United States Code to respond to the cessation of commuter rail operations by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation: Provided further, That the Secretary of Transportation shall make the reserved funds available to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation through an appropriate grant instrument during the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2005 to the extent that no directed service orders have been issued by the Surface Transportation Board as of the date of transfer or there is a balance of reserved funds not needed by the Board to pay for any directed service order issued through September 30, 2005: Provided further, That not later than 60 days after enactment of this Act, Amtrak shall transmit, in electronic format, to the Secretary of Transportation, the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation a comprehensive business plan approved by the Board of Directors for fiscal year 2005 under section 24104(a) of title 49, United States Code: Provided further, That the business plan shall include, as applicable, targets for ridership, revenues, and capital and operating expenses: Provided further, That the plan shall also include a separate accounting of such targets for the Northeast Corridor; commuter service; long-distance Amtrak service; state-supported service; each intercity train route; including Autotrain; and commercial activities including contract operations and mail and express: Provided further, That the business plan shall include a description of the work to be funded, along with cost estimates and an estimated timetable for completion of the projects covered by this business plan: Provided further, That not later than December 1, 2004 and no later than 30 days following the last business day of the previous month thereafter, Amtrak shall submit to the Secretary of Transportation and the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations a supplemental report, in electronic format, regarding the pending business plan, which shall describe the work completed to date, any changes to the business plan, and the reasons for such changes: Provided further, That none of the funds in this Act may be used for operating expenses, including advance purchase orders, and capital projects not approved by the Secretary of Transportation nor on the National Railroad Passenger Corporation's fiscal year 2005 business plan: Provided further, That Amtrak shall display the business plan and all subsequent supplemental plans on the Corporation's website within a reasonable timeframe following their submission to the appropriate entities: Provided further, That none of the funds under this heading may be obligated or expended until the National Railroad Passenger Corporation agrees to continue abiding by the provisions of paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, and 11 of the summary of conditions for the direct loan agreement of June 28, 2002, in the same manner as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act: Provided further, That the Secretary of Transportation is authorized to retain up to $4,000,000 of the funds provided to be used to retain a consultant or consultants to assist the Secretary in preparing a comprehensive valuation of Amtrak's assets to be completed not later than September 30, 2005: Provided further, That these funds shall be available to the Secretary of Transportation until expended: Provided further, That this valuation shall to be used to retain a consultant or consultants to develop to the Secretary's satisfaction a methodology for determining the avoidable and fully allocated costs of each Amtrak route: Provided further, That once the Secretary has approved the methodology for determining the avoidable and fully allocated costs of each Amtrak route, Amtrak shall apply that methodology in compiling an annual report to Congress on the avoidable and fully allocated costs of each of its routes, with the initial report for fiscal year 2005 to be submitted to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation before December 31, 2005, and each subsequent report to be submitted within ninety days after the end of the fiscal year to which the report pertains.

GENERAL PROVISIONS--FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

SEC. 150. For the purpose of assisting State-supported intercity rail service, in order to demonstrate whether competition will provide higher quality rail passenger service at reasonable prices, the Secretary of Transportation, working with affected States, shall develop and implement a procedure for fair competitive bidding by Amtrak and non-Amtrak operators for State-supported routes: Provided, That in the event a State desires to select or selects a non-Amtrak operator for the route, the State may make an agreement with Amtrak to use facilities and equipment of, or have services provided by, Amtrak under terms agreed to by the State and Amtrak to enable the non-Amtrak operator to provide the State-supported service: Provided further, That if the parties cannot agree on terms, the Secretary shall, as a condition of receipt of Federal grant funds, order that the facilities and equipment be made available and the services be provided by Amtrak under reasonable terms and compensation: Provided further, That when prescribing reasonable compensation to Amtrak, the Secretary shall consider quality of service as a major factor when determining whether, and the extent to which, the amount of compensation shall be greater than the incremental costs of using the facilities and providing the services: Provided further, That the Secretary may reprogram up to $2,500,000 from the Amtrak operating grant funds for costs associated with the implementation of the fair bid procedure and demonstration of competition under this section.

SEC. 154. The Northern New England High Speed Rail Corridor is expanded to include the train routes from Boston, Massachusetts, to Albany, New York, and from Springfield, Massachusetts, to New Haven, Connecticut.

SEC. 155. Not later than March 1, 2005, Amtrak shall submit to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations a report detailing Amtrak's obligations pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 24306(a), describing all investments made to develop mail and express, year-to-year operating results generated by mail and express, a detailed description of the impact on employees related to termination of mail and express, a detailed description of the proposed liquidation of assets related to mail and express, and an accounting of all incurred and estimated costs resulting from such termination, including legal and accounting costs, any contingent obligations that may result, and any other related costs. Before submission, both the Amtrak Board of Directors and the Department of Transportation shall review this report.

RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM

RRIF loan repayment.--The conferees include bill language directing Amtrak to repay the 2002 RRIF loan in five equal annual installments over a five-year period. The conferees are concerned that, in annually seeking deferral of its obligations to repay the Federal Government, Amtrak jeopardizes the future of the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program. This program was established to meet the essential infrastructure investment needs of the rail industry, in particular the small and regional freight railroads that are essential to the economic competitiveness of many parts of rural and small town America. Continuation of such deferrals could set a dangerous precedent for Federal credit programs. The conferees believe that no one, including a quasi-governmental entity such as Amtrak, should be exempt from meeting its financial obligations to the Federal Government in a timely manner. Clearly, Amtrak agreed to a repayment schedule that it knew, or at least should have known, would jeopardize its ability to undertake infrastructure repairs critical to safe and reliable intercity and commuter passenger transportation, particularly in the Northeast Corridor. This is a lesson that should not be lost on Amtrak if it should again contemplate funding capital improvements with debt. The conferees direct Amtrak and the FRA to enter into a realistic repayment schedule that will permit repayment of the principal and interest of the RRIF loan owed to the Federal Government by Amtrak, while mitigating the impact of this debt obligation on Amtrak's capital program.


NEXT GENERATION HIGH-SPEED RAIL

The conference agreement provides $19,650,000 for Next Generation High-Speed Rail, instead of $11,000,000 as proposed by the House and $20,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. The agreement provides the following funding allocations:

NEXT GENERATION HIGH-SPEED RAIL

The conference agreement provides $19,650,000 for Next Generation High-Speed Rail, instead of $11,000,000 as proposed by the House and $20,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. The agreement provides the following funding allocations:

Train Control Systems $7,500,000
North American joint PTC project (6,500,000)
Train Control--TTC (1,000,000)
High-Speed Non-Electric Locomotives 1,700,000
DMU compliance and demonstration, Florida (400,000)
DMU compliance and demonstration, New Jersey (400,000)
Grade Crossing & Innovative Technologies 4,350,000
Alaska RR luminescent grade crossings (1,000,000)
Vicksburg, MS Fairgrounds St grade crossing (1,000,000)
Assembly Street, South Carolina (600,000)
High-speed rail improvements between NYC and Albany, NY (350,000)
Track/Structures Technology 1,000,000
Corridor Planning 3,100,000
Gulf Coast High Speed Rail Corridor Study (1,000,000)
Memphis Region High Speed Rail Study (400,000)
Spokane Region High Speed Rail Corridor Study (1,000,000)
New England High Speed Rail Boston-Springfield-New Haven Corridor Study (700,000)
Maglev 2,000,000
California-Nevada Interstate Maglev Project (1,000,000)
Pennsylvania Maglev Deployment Project (1,000,000)

Source:
CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4818,
CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 --
(House of Representatives - November 19, 2004)
Conference Report (H. Rept. 108-792)

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/Z?r ... -0085:e345

<i>NEXT GENERATION HIGH-SPEED RAIL

The conference agreement provides $19,650,000 for Next Generation High-Speed Rail, instead of $11,000,000 as proposed by the House and $20,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. The agreement provides the following funding allocations: </i>

19 million for Pork:
<i>Train Control Systems $7,500,000 </i>

Huh?

<i>North American joint PTC project (6,500,000) </i>

Sure, let's studay an already deployed technology to death.

<i>Train Control--TTC (1,000,000) </i>

Huh?

<i>High-Speed Non-Electric Locomotives 1,700,000 </i>

This has been a technological dead end for 30+ years now. Yet the DOT still holds this fantasy out. Nobody else does.

<i>DMU compliance and demonstration, Florida (400,000) </i>

Already sucessfully demonstrated.

<i>DMU compliance and demonstration, New Jersey (400,000) </i>

Ditto.

<i>Grade Crossing & Innovative Technologies 4,350,000 </i>

'innovative'? Because elimanation isn't proven enough?

<i>Alaska RR luminescent grade crossings (1,000,000) </i>

This has nothing to do with HSR.

<i> Vicksburg, MS Fairgrounds St grade crossing (1,000,000)
Assembly Street, South Carolina (600,000) </i>

Ditto.

<i>High-speed rail improvements between NYC and Albany, NY (350,000)</i>

Wow! It's sure nice to see the feds are holding up their end of that deal. 350 grand will buy what, a few RR ties and CWR?

<i>Track/Structures Technology 1,000,000 </i>

Huh?

<i>Corridor Planning 3,100,000 </i>

It really costs 3 million plus to draw lines on maps between population centers less than 400 miles apart?

<i>Gulf Coast High Speed Rail Corridor Study (1,000,000) </i>

Why?

<i>Memphis Region High Speed Rail Study (400,000) </i>

<b>Why?</b>

<i>Spokane Region High Speed Rail Corridor Study (1,000,000) </i>

Why?!?

<i>New England High Speed Rail Boston-Springfield-New Haven Corridor Study (700,000) </i>

Gee, we can't maintain bridges on the shore line, so we'll study building a whole new line to provide redundant capacity, at 100 times the cost!

<i>Maglev 2,000,000
California-Nevada Interstate Maglev Project (1,000,000)
Pennsylvania Maglev Deployment Project (1,000,000) </i>

Maglev is a comercial failure. Transrapid has one customer to date, who has built a minor line and decided that future lines will be conventional technology. It's failed in the global marketplace. It failed in Germany even with government backing. Heck, I don't even know if it's alive in Japan anymore.

20 million dollars, all to either non high speed projects or worthless studies and technological dead ends.

20 million dollars, all to either non high speed projects or worthless studies and technological dead ends

That's what happens when those with an anti-HSR agenda hire consultants that tell them what they want to hear. Catch-22 indeed...

New England High Speed Rail Boston-Springfield-New Haven Corridor Study (700,000)

Gee, we can't maintain bridges on the shore line, so we'll study building a whole new line to provide redundant capacity, at 100 times the cost!

The Inland Route has three major intermediate cities - Hartford, Springfield, Worcester - versus one for the Shore Line - Providence. Hence it has far greater market potential.

Also, it avoids the headaches of movable bridges over major waterways such as the Connecticut and Thames Rivers. We've already discussed these issues.

I'm not saying we should move everything to the Inland Route, but there is definitely untapped market potential there. Rerouting some of the Shore Line trains might make sense.

P.S. 100x cost is sheer rhetoric. Let's not be so testy.

It looks to me like those projects (above) with numbers in parenthesis were NOT funded. (under the section "NEXT GENERATION HIGH-SPEED RAIL" in my posting above.)

If you add up all of the other projects (the ones with numbers not in parenthesis) you come to the total appropriation of $19,650,000.

Keep in mind that what I posted was text from the Conference Report, not the actual appropriations Bill.

Folks,

Civics lesson time.

Congresscritters get re-elected NOT for their vision of the Nation, NOT for their keeping of ideals, BUT FOR...

BRINGING HOME TO THE DISTRICT.... (drum roll please)...

Jobs
Jobs
"Essential safety" in the district.

Trust me, Grandma and Grandpa Billybob Jumpback, big contributors to Congressman X, REALLY wanted that wig-wag crossbuck at their rr crossing.

Doesn't matter which party is in power ... in fact, there were Dems as well as Reps on the conference committee. Voters measure a Congressman's effectiveness by the Feddiebucks he brings home.

John Perkowski

As usual Mr. Perkowski good point.

AmtrakFan