House Kicks off Transportation Budget Process Next Week

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) will hold a hearing on its Fiscal Year 2025 budget next week on June 27th, where it will reveal proposed funding levels for Amtrak operations, passenger rail grants, and transit programs.

It will be Rep. Steve Womack’s (R-AR) first markup as Chair of the T-HUD subcommittee. Rail Passengers Association will be watching closely to see what approach the Congressman takes. Last year’s proposed House budget would’ve slashed Amtrak funding by 64 percent——including a 92 percent cut to Northeast Corridor operations! Thankfully, that effort was turned back through a bipartisan effort to support Amtrak's funding, and Rail Passengers has been hard at work to ensure that last year's mistakes aren't repeated.

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Why Operational Funding Matters

IIJA funding can only be used for certain purposes and cannot replace Amtrak's annual appropriations. Providing sufficient FY25 funding is necessary to allow Amtrak to operate trains, perform annual maintenance, and carry out core functions to avoid long-term deterioration of assets and services. It will also allow Amtrak to quickly make targeted, high-priority investments for future expansion.

While Amtrak and States will have access to guaranteed funding through the IIJA’s advanced appropriations, it still needs operating funds to pay its workers, keep the lights on at stations, and fund daily maintenance functions. Cuts to operating funding will degrade Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and National Network service; if the cuts are deep enough, it could even lead to the elimination of service along certain routes.

Fully Authorizing Rail Programs Will Speed Project Delivery

Fortunately, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law means that, unlike in years past, we aren’t simply fighting to avert a disaster. Funding Amtrak at fully authorized levels will allow Amtrak to accelerate high-priority investments to upgrade and expand its network, modernize stations, and accelerate equipment delivery though expanded partnerships with manufacturers.

Critically, providing funding beyond Amtrak’s base needs will allow the railroad to be an active partner with States and regional authorities that are still in the process of building out their rail programs. This will allow these entities to more effectively compete with the States who have dominated the competitive grant programs in the first rounds of IIJA funding. Amtrak provided the following list of specific projects that they can accelerate if Congress funds them at the levels it authorized in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

We’ve included the full list of those projects below. We encourage you to look through and see if there’s anything that would benefit your region!

[Use our advocacy platform to quickly and easily write your Members of Congress in support of these projects!]