Mar 13 2009
Repost – March 13 – Biden Announces Stimulus Funding for Amtrak
From WTOP.com
WASHINGTON – Vice President Joe Biden says $1.3 billion set aside for Amtrak as part of the economic stimulus package will go toward funding a critical backlog of deferred maintenance.
Speaking Friday at Union Station, Biden said $105 million will be spent to replace a 100-year-old bridge in Connecticut on Amtrak’s heavily traveled northeast corridor. Another $82 million will be used to replace old rail cars and put them back into service.
The national passenger railroad, long criticized for its reliance on government subsidies, has been enjoying strong support in Washington under the Obama administration.
Biden noted that every passenger rail system in the world relies on subsidies and that for far too long Amtrak has been starved for cash.
Biden has commuted on Amtrak for decades between his home in Wilmington, Del., and Washington.
(Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
