House bill would open NEC to private competition

By RAJU CHEBIUM
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON — An Amtrak bill introduced in the House today would, for the first time, explicitly allow private companies to compete for provide rail service in the Northeast Corridor.

What role private firms would play in Amtrak's most heavily traveled — and consistently profitable — route remains to be worked out.

However, Florida GOP Rep. John Mica, the ranking member of the House Transportation Committee, called allowing private competition in the Northeast Corridor the highlight of the bipartisan bill.

Powerful House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota and several other Democrats and Republicans on that panel support the measure, which would provide the nation's sole passenger railroad $14.3 billion over the next five years.

It's far from certain that the Northeast Corridor "privatization" provision would
become law. That route carries Amtrak and NJ Transit trains every day through central Jersey, serving thousands of passengers.

That's because many Democrats, including those from New Jersey, reject any attempt to inject private competition in the Washington-to-Boston corridor.

One of the strongest critics is Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who co-authored a
five-year, $11.4 billion Amtrak bill that passed the Senate 70-22 in October. He has
said the federal government needs to fully fund passenger rail because rail is a public asset.

The House bill introduced today, which serves as an alternative to the Lautenberg
measure, would provide nearly $7 billion through fiscal year 2013 for repairs,
maintenance and other capital improvements at Amtrak-owned tracks and facilities such as stations, and nearly $2 billion for 11 high-speed rail corridors that Amtrak, states and private operators could bid for.