Yesterday, Chairman John Mica (R-FL) of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) of the House Rail Subcommittee, proposed a U.S. government takeover of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and the subsequent sale of its assets to private companies. The reaction from Amtrak, regional officials, and business leaders was immediate, with many expressing serious concerns about the impact privatization would have on passengers and the future of rail development in the region and throughout the nation. Senator Coons, too, is concerned about the effect it would have on Delaware, where the Northeast Corridor forms an important link to jobs and the regional economy.
Chris responded to their proposal yesterday, saying: “Amtrak has invested in the Northeast Corridor for 40 years and has done an exemplary job of providing efficient rail services while continually improving its operations. Last month, Amtrak marked 19 straight months of growth in ridership and announced its own plan to pursue private investment in the Northeast Corridor, both of which are very encouraging signs that Amtrak is continuing down the right track. While I wholeheartedly support public-private partnerships, I do not support selling off the entire Northeast Corridor to the private sector. Amtrak service is too important to our regional economy.”
The Northeast Corridor in Delaware is served by 90 daily trains, connecting riders in Wilmington and Newark to destinations as near as Aberdeen, MD, and Philadelphia, PA, to as far as Miami, FL and Burlington, VT. Over 706,000 people either boarded or exited an Amtrak train in Delaware last year, and Wilmington is ranked as the system’s 12th busiest station overall.
Just as important as its wider economic impact, Amtrak also employs more than a thousand Delawareans, and it had procurement contracts with Delaware companies worth over $8 million in 2010. In fact, Amtrak’s operational nerve center, the Consolidated National Operations Center, moved to Wilmington from Philadelphia in 1998, underscoring Delaware’s major role on the Northeast Corridor and in our national Amtrak rail system as a whole. A privatization of the Northeast Corridor would have a significant effect on the many Delawareans who work at Amtrak, provide contracted services, and rely on its service to get to work.
To learn more about Chris’ work on transportation issues, click here.