Amtrak's Northeast Corridor to receive $16 billion for passenger rail projects
BEAR, Del. (CBS/AP) -- The federal government will pump more than $16 billion into Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, the nation's busiest rail line, President Joe Biden will say Monday in Bear, Delaware.
Biden will announce a historic level of funding for the rail line at the Amtrak Maintenance Shops, where trains are maintained and repaired. Bear is about 12 miles from his home in Wilmington.
The new funding will be spent on 25 passenger rail projects between Boston and Washington, D.C.
The White House said the investments will help trains run faster, cut delays and create union jobs.
The money will come from the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed nearly two years ago, one of several legislative achievements that the president is touting as he gears up for his reelection bid.
From the law, Amtrak will get about $66 billion in new investments, according to the White House.
During his 36 years as a U.S. senator, Biden traveled back and forth from Wilmington to Washington daily. The president has said that he has logged more than 1 million miles on Amtrak during his public service career.
"Amtrak wasn't just a way to get home to family," Biden said at an infrastructure event in Baltimore earlier this year. "The conductors, the engineers - they literally became my family."
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the $4.47 billion his state will receive will "undeniably transform New Jersey's passenger rail infrastructure and benefit our communities for decades to come."
"This historic investment demonstrates President Biden's commitment to updating our nation's aging infrastructure and prioritizing the public transportation so many Americans rely upon," Murphy said in a statement. "The funding for the Gateway Program will support efforts my administration has been working toward for years alongside our partners to update bridges and tunnels along the Northeast Corridor that serve 260 million passenger trips per year.
"Beyond the Gateway Program, this funding will also contribute to the construction of NJ TRANSIT's critical Delco Lead resiliency project, in addition to helping make passenger accessibility improvements at Newark Penn Station a reality," Murphy added." Countless Americans will not only benefit from the faster, more efficient, and more reliable transportation this unprecedented funding will enable, but the thousands of good-paying jobs these projects will generate as well. I thank the Biden-Harris Administration for their ongoing support in helping our state deliver the modern, high-quality transportation our residents deserve."
The White House said it's the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak.
There are about 800,000 trips daily on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, the White House said.
