Senate Rejects Cuts to Amtrak and Transit

[Editor’s Note: this post was updated on July 26th with information included in the final version of the bill, available on the Committee’s markup site.]

In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 28 to 1, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations approved its Fiscal Year 2025 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) budget earlier today. Critically, the Senate’s transportation budget rejects the partisan cuts to Amtrak and transit included in the House’s FY25 T-HUD budget, which was passed out of the House Committee on Appropriations earlier this month.

“This bipartisan bill makes critical new investments to help people keep a roof over their head and safely get to where they need to be—with new funding to hire more air traffic controllers and air and rail safety inspectors, boost our housing supply, sustain rental assistance, improve America’s roads and bridges, and much more,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This bill strengthens our efforts at the federal level to address the housing crisis, invests in improving transportation infrastructure in communities across the country, and will help keep our country moving forward.”

The bill provides a total of $3.46 billion for federal rail programs and $17 billion for the Federal Transit Administration. That includes:

• $2.63 billion for Amtrak operations, an increase of $210 million over FY24 levels and $530 million more than the House version;
  • $1.61 billion for National Network operations;
    • Allows Amtrak to use for $66 million in National Network funds for corridor development activities, including $10 million for a new Atlanta intercity passenger rail hub and $20 million for Pacific Northwest rail improvements;
  • $1.02 billion for Northeast Corridor operations;
• $292 million for the FRA’s Safety and Operations budget, an increase of $24 million over FY24 and $4 million more than the House version ;
• $100 million for the Federal-State Partnership Intercity Passenger Rail Program, an increase of $25 million over FY24 and $100 million more than the House version;
  • Includes a $15 million set-aside for the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation to rehabilitate and repair the Washington Union Station complex;
• $475 million for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Grant program, an increase of $276 million over FY24 levels and $176 million more than the House version, including $75 million in Congressional Directed Spending earmarks:
  • Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) secured $3.85 million for the City of Flagstaff for improvements to the Flagstaff Amtrak Station platform;
  • Sen. Alex Padilla (D-AZ) secured $2.9 million for the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission for PTC installation work that will allow for expanded ACE rail service;
  • Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) secured $2 million for the City of Detroit for improvements to the Michigan Central Intermodal Passenger Station; and
• $2.3 billion for Capital Investment Grants, a $57 million increase over FY24 and $1.5 billion more than the House version.

The Senate bill also included several policy provisions, many of which are familiar from our work with Congress over the past years:

• National Network Services: the bill emphasized that Amtrak’s long-distance routes provide much needed transportation access in hundreds of communities and for rural areas where mobility options are limited. It also states that routes providing service to rural areas from urban areas along the northeast corridor are equally important. The Committee underscored that it does not support proposals that will inevitably lead to long-term or permanent service cuts or segmentation of routes, which will result in less service for rural communities.
• Amtrak Station Agents: requires Amtrak to provide station agents at all Amtrak stations that had a ticket agent position eliminated in fiscal year 2018, and to communicate and collaborate with local partners and take into consideration the unique needs of each community, including impacts to local jobs, when making decisions related to the staffing of Amtrak stations.
• Food and Beverage: urges Amtrak to provide food and beverage services in a cost effective manner consistent with available funds, and update Congress on the food and beverage offerings, new initiatives, and operating loss, as appropriate.
• Lactation Accomodations: recognizes Amtrak’s work to implement lactation accommodations for nursing employees and customers, and encourages Amtrak to consider the continued expansion of such accommodations on board its trains and stations.
• Midwest Rail Commission Study: the bill directs the DOT and the FRA, in coordination with Amtrak, to study and provide recommendations on ways to establish a federally authorized commission for the purposes of developing a long-term delivery strategy for Midwest rail, including identifying projects in need of prioritization. The study should include recommendations on how to most appropriately establish a Federal entity, including where the Commission would ideally be housed. The findings and recommendations shall be provided to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 6 months of passage of the bill.

The Senate T-HUD bill still needs to be approved by the full Senate, and a vote hasn’t been publicly scheduled.

(Millions)
	FY24 Enacted	FY25 IIJA Authorized	FY25 President Request	FY25 House Proposed	FY25 Senate Proposed
Amtrak - NEC	$1,141	$1,300	$1,200	$1,002	$1,021
Amtrak - Nat'l Network	$1,286	$2,700	$1,304	$1,123	$1,617
FRA Operations	$268	$271	$294	$288	$292
Fed-State Partnership for IPR/SOGR	$75	$1,500	$100	$0	$100
CRISI Grants	$199	$1,000	$250	$299	$475
RR Crossing Elimination Grants	$0	$500	$0	$0	$0
Restoration & Enhancement Grants	$0	$50	$0	$0	0
Total	$2,969	$7,321	$3,148	$2,712	$3,505

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House Punts on T-HUD Vote, Adjourns Through September

Meanwhile, leaders in the U.S. House announced the body would adjourn a week earlier than scheduled, canceling votes planned for next week—including a July 29th vote on the House T-HUD bill that contained significant cuts to Amtrak and transit programs. The move is likely a tacit acknowledgement that House Republican leadership is having a difficult time getting their members to sign off on a broad package of funding cuts to essential programs.

The House is not scheduled to return until September 9th, and key leadership figrues have already resigned themselves to passing a short-term budget extension to fund the government beyond the September 30th fiscal deadline and through November's election. This will kick most funding question into the lame-duck session.

“It really doesn’t make that much difference… the game plan’s about the same,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters. “We can go to conference on anything at any time. And I think the winner of the November election is going to decide whether they want to finish the bill this year or not.”