Amtrak Warns Infrastructure Upgrades Won't Come Until 2023 at the Earliest
Skift Take
Amtrak may be flush with billions of dollars to expand passenger rail across the U.S. but that does not mean trains will begin rolling soon. The railroad needs time to begin implementing the passenger rail portions of President Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure bill, and faces its own challenges recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
It surprised few that Amtrak, a personal favorite of President Biden, made out well in the infrastructure bill that was signed into law in November. Passenger Rail was allocated $66 billion of which $22 billion will go directly to Amtrak, and another $36 billion will be awarded through competitive grants. Private passenger rail operators, including Brightline and Texas Central, are eligible for the latter bucket of funding.
But Amtrak President Stephen Gardner gave the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure the unvarnished truth at a hearing on December 10: It could be at least 18 months before work begins on upgrading the Northeast Corridor, including the long
