Amtrak: It's Time To Build

Amtrak: It's Time To Build
SOURCE: AMTRAK OCT 26, 2015


Amtrak President & CEO Joe Boardman was joined by a panel of industry experts Oct. 26, at the National Press Club to highlight the need to make infrastructure planning and investment a national priority.

Joined by Chicago Gateway Blue Ribbon Panel members Thomas Carper, Amtrak Board of Directors member; Howard Learner, founder of the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago; and Jack Quinn, former chairman of the Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and president of Erie Community College, the group discussed the nation's infrastructure crisis, the growing problem of aging infrastructure and railway congestion, and most importantly funding.

"Amtrak is doing what it can. But the root of the problem is lack of funding needed to address the congestion challenge that contributes to these delays," said Boardman. "Persistent underinvestment leads to congestion – and the lack of investment threatens our national economy."

Nowhere are infrastructure problems worse than in the New York and Chicago regions.

As the majority owner of the Northeast Corridor (NEC), a complex commuter and intercity rail network, Amtrak depends on the infrastructure investments made today to help ensure it can deliver mobility, reliability and safety to its stakeholders in the future. Each day, 750,000 people board trains headed to work, school and other destinations making the NEC one of the largest economic drivers of our American economy. .....................(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/press_release/12130629/amtrak-its-time-to-build