A message from Rail Passengers' President on HR 4820

Amendment Tracker [updated Nov. 2, 12:37 PM Eastern]:

15. Molinaro (NY), Lawler (NY), LaLota (NY) #55 Symbolic amendment that increases then decreases funding for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program by $100 million to highlight the importance of CRISI in advancing railroad safety. (Debate: 10 minutes)

*RPA Position: SUPPORT*

16. Garbarino (NY), LaLota (NY) #88 (REVISED) Symbolic amendment that increases then decreases funding for Amtrak Northeast Corridor funding by $1,160,769,000 to highlight its importance for the continued operation, maintenance, and economic success of the NEC. (Debate: 10 minutes)

*RPA Position: SUPPORT*

18. Lawler (NY) #160 (LATE) (REVISED) Symbolic amendment that increases then decreases funding for the Amtrak National Network by $416 million with the intent of highlighting the need for robust rail funding to modernize our passenger rail network. (Debate: 10 minutes)

*RPA Position: SUPPORT*

19. Molinaro (NY) #56 Symbolic amendment that increases then decreases Amtrak funding by $100 million to emphasize the importance of Amtrak to expeditiously advance ADA compliance at stations and on trains. (Debate: 10 minutes)

*RPA Position: SUPPORT*

20. Perry (PA) #132 Zeroes out Amtrak's National Network grant, eliminating all State Supported and Long Distance service. (Debate: 10 minutes)

*RPA Position: OPPOSED*

22. Perry (PA) #100 Eliminated $130 million in funding for transit infrastructure grants for community projects (Congressionally Directed Spending). (Debate: 10 minutes)

*RPA Position: OPPOSED*

23. Perry (PA) #75 Zeroes out funding for the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Grants program, an important funding source for projects that upgrade and expand heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars, and bus rapid transit systems across the U.S. (Debate: 10 minutes)

RPA Position: OPPOSED

25. Perry (PA) #78 Zeroes out funding for Grants to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. (Debate: 10 minutes)

RPA Position: OPPOSED

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Dear Representative;

We write today on behalf of America’s train passengers to ask you to vote no on H.R. 4820, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024.

This bill includes a 64 percent cut to Amtrak funding below the FY23 adopted levels and an 85 percent reduction to the Federal Transit Administration’s main capitalization program.

The cuts to Amtrak include a 92 percent reduction in funds to the Northeast Corridor (NEC), the busiest rail corridor in the Western Hemisphere, which carries more than 2,200 trains every day. Disrupting service on this corridor – which carries 780,000 commuters from eight commuter railroads every weekday – would harm the entire U.S. economy.

It will also threaten the elimination of Amtrak service for hundreds of cities and small towns across the U.S. Many of the rural communities Amtrak serves don’t even have access to intercity bus transportation, much less a regional airport. Rail Passengers Association modeling suggests that Amtrak’s interconnected services in the Northeast Corridor, the long-distance National Network and the dozens of State-supported Amtrak routes together return between $7 billion and $8 billion each year to our Nation’s GDP—four times what we typically invest in the service.

The cuts included in H.R. 4820 will:

• Negatively impact as many as 20 million passengers nationwide;
• Endanger tens of thousands of operating, construction, and manufacturing jobs, with initial estimates indicating 10,000 Amtrak employees alone could be furloughed or separated due to lack of funding; and
• Halt work on scores of state-sponsored transit and intercity rail infrastructure projects that will benefit tens of millions of Americans.

On behalf of those 20 million Americans, we urge you to reject the radical cuts to passenger rail and transit outlined in the House FY24 THUD bill. Thank you in advance for your consideration, and please let me know if my organization can help in any way. We’ll be tracking individual amendments related to passenger rail here.

Sincerely,

Jim Mathews

President & CEO, Rail Passengers Association