FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2021
CONTACT
Mike Friedberg
202-469-5131
(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) are leading the charge calling for more rail funding in the infrastructure bill.
Earlier this week, the Senators filed an amendment to the infrastructure bill that would increase funding for the Northeast Corridor (NEC) by an additional $30 billion to help address major capital projects and support efforts to increase on-time-performance. If approved, this would spur the Northeast Corridor Commission's C-35 plan which calls for a $117 billion investment to replace aging bridges and tunnels, add rail capacity, reduce travel times, and enhance customer experience along the corridor. Specifically, the amendment would add $20 billion to the NEC set aside for the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail grants and $10 billion to NEC grants to Amtrak. The text of the amendment is available here. The bipartisan infrastructure bill released last week includes $66 billion in new funding for rail, including $30 billion for the NEC.
"While Congress works to develop a comprehensive infrastructure package to spur economic development across the nation, targeted investment in the most utilized rail hub in the country is essential," said Michael Friedberg, executive director of the CNEC. "As members of the Coalition for the Northeast Corridor (CNEC), we appreciate the effort put forth by Senators Blumenthal, Murphy, Markey, Van Hollen, Gillibrand, Warren, and Booker, and urge their colleagues in Congress to support this amendment and continued investments in the NEC."
CNEC is the business community's voice for strengthening rail infrastructure in order to reduce congestion, create jobs and grow the economy. We represent diverse stakeholders who rely on the Corridor to conduct commerce, access customers, and transport employees.