Eight U.S. senators recently sent a letter requesting $500 million for the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program in the fiscal year 2020 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
Funds would be used for repairs to the Northeast Corridor.
The letter was sent to Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies, and Jack Reed (D-RI), the subcommittee’s ranking member.
Amtrak and other commuter railroads use the Northeast Corridor. The railroads transport 800,000 passengers daily and contribute approximately $50 billion to the economy.
Funding would reduce the $40 million repair backlog along the Northeast Corridor, but the Trump Administration has proposed eliminating funding for the program. The backlog can cause closures and delays, the letter said.
“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,’” the letter said.
The letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), ranking member of the Senate’s transit subcommittee, and Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Chris Murphy (D-CT).