U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced the “Railroad Reform, Enhancement, and Efficiency Act” on June 19, 2015. The senators say the bill is written to “improve passenger rail safety, reauthorize Amtrak services and improve existing rail infrastructure.”
The legislation would authorize Amtrak for the next four years at an average $1.65 billion a year—$1.45 billion in 2016, increasing every year to $1.9 billion in 2016. Additionally, $570 million in annual “competitive” grant funding—$2.28 billion during the four-year period—would be made available every year “for programs related to capital assistance, service enhancement and restoration, alleviating rail congestion and the Northeast Corridor.”
The bill includes language Booker and Wicker say will increase safety by advancing the deployment of Positive Train Control, requiring action plans related to speed limits and grade crossings and encouraging the use of confidential close call reporting system (C3RS) programs. It also takes steps to reform the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program and streamlines the permitting process for improvements to existing track and related infrastructure.
Wicker and Booker said their bill “could receive a vote by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee as early as [the week of June 22].” Even if that happens, though, the bill’s future remains murky. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015 (PRRIA, H.R. 749) in early March. While the House version of the bill also takes steps to reform the RRIF loan process, Amtrak would receive less money per year (an average of $979 million per year). The House bill includes a stipulation that an additional $1.8 billion in authorized spending during the four-year period be put into the Northeast Corridor. “Wicker is a liberal Republican; Booker is a Democrat” said one Capitol Hill observer. “Both chambers of Congress are dominated by conservative Republicans. It’s doubtful that the Booker/Wicker bill will have legs.”
Among the highlights of the Booker/Wicker bill:
• Advances deployment of PTC by authorizing grants and prioritizing loan applications to support its implementation.
• Requires speed limit action plans to address automatic train control modifications, crew communication, and other speed enforcement issues.
• Requires grade crossing action plans to facilitate and improve state grade crossing safety efforts.
• Encourages the use of C3RS programs to identify hazards before they lead to accidents.
• Addresses other important safety issues such as signal protection, signage, alerters and track inspection.
• Generates opportunities for private-sector partnerships to develop rail stations.
• Unlocks new revenue streams through right-of-way development.
• Requires the U.S. Department of Transportation to solicit competitive proposals to achieve trip time savings on key corridors.
• Requires the DOT to facilitate competition that could reduce state-supported and long-distance route costs by at least 10%.
• Reforms the RRIF program to create a faster, more flexible, and accessible application process, potentially accelerating major NEC projects, such as building new Hudson River tunnels or replacing Amtrak’s Portal Bridge.
• Streamlines the permitting process for improvement to existing railroad track and related infrastructure.
• Increases permitting review engagement among federal and state agencies.
• Produces greater certainty by establishing deadlines for agency action and decisions.
• Provides for the advance acquisition of property to control costs and improve project delivery.
• Consolidates existing grant programs to focus resources on the most critical safety and infrastructure improvements.
• Establishes a working group for the restoration of passenger rail service east of New Orleans and creates a competitive grant program for fiscally sustainable routes, potentially including the restoration of service abandoned after Hurricane Katrina.
• Authorizes a federal-state partnership to achieve a state-of-good-repair for infrastructure controlled by states or Amtrak, including on the NEC.
• Provides state partners and Congress with greater transparency into Amtrak’s budgeting.
• Reforms Amtrak by requiring the separation of business line accounts, facilitating greater re-investment in Amtrak infrastructure, including the NEC.
• Adds more robust taxpayer protections to large rail equipment purchases and capital projects funded by the federal government.
• Requires Amtrak to develop methodologies for determining what routes and services it should provide.
• Requires the development of operational efficiency solutions on issues such as through-ticketing and joint procurement.
• Enhances mutual cooperation and planning on state-supported routes operated by Amtrak.
• Ensures broad, national representation on the Amtrak Board of Directors.
• Creates opportunities for states to compete for fiscally sustainable service enhancements.
• Gives states greater say in infrastructure planning and improvements on the NEC.
“To help the United States compete globally, we must invest in a safe and reliable passenger rail system that Americans can depend on,” said Booker, the former mayor of Newark, N.J. who replaced the late Frank Lautenberg—a staunch Amtrak and passenger rail advocate—in the U.S. Senate. “But too often our rail system falls short due to a lack of adequate infrastructure investment. Our bipartisan bill takes important steps to improve rail safety in the wake of last month’s tragic derailment, modernize our aging passenger rail network, and maximize investments in infrastructure through improved financing and grant programs. The legislation allows Amtrak to reinvest Northeast Corridor profits back into improving Northeast Corridor infrastructure, including throughout New Jersey. This will help advance critical but long overdue initiatives like building [Amtrak’s] Gateway Project, which adds a new tunnel under the Hudson River and replacing the [deteriorating] Portal Bridge.”
“This bipartisan measure would make robust improvements to safety programs, improve existing infrastructure and empower state and local officials,” added Wicker. “The bill also leverages private sector investment, cuts red tape and increases transparency to make our critical infrastructure dollars go further.”