AMTRAK is requesting this amount for capital projects. Here is AMTRAK's release which is very long on rhetoric and very short on specifics.
http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/543/624/Amtrak-FY14-Grant-and-Legis-ATK-13-029.pdf
If we look at various documents from the RR we can get an idea of what it would do if it got all this money. Some items would be Gateway engineering, Portal bridge, upgrading Newark - Phl for 160 MPH, alot of rolling stocck both locos/motors, passengers rail cars, ETC.
While the news release is pretty general it is followed by a 12 page letter to Vice President Biden and Speaker Bohner that expands on the release.
In the letter two points are worth mentioning. Amtrak provides a considerable amount of money for the country's economy. There is a chart showing the importance of Amtrak to the top ten states. Also, Amtrak's focus on people with disabilities by both improving access in its stations and also access on its web site to making reservations and purchasing tickets. The response has been a more than 16 per cent increase in the number of people with disabilities using Amtrak within the past year.
Representative John Mica also took the opportunity to comment on Amtrak's proposal. He said “Only in America could we pour more taxpayer dollars into a Soviet-style passenger rail system,”
A little net surfing suggests Mr. Mica is not as critical of all passenger railroads. In the Republican Primary before the last election his opponent, Sandy Adams, criticized him for supporting Sunrail, the new commuter railroad being built in Florida. Ms Adams excoriated him for standing with President Obama to announce the system. The Congress has voted to provide $178 million for Sunrail.
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