Senate Passes Increased Funding for Amtrak, Passenger Rail

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed an $86.6 billion Fiscal Year 2020 transportation funding bill, an increase of $167 million over this year’s levels--$58 million of which went to increased funding for Amtrak. The bill was approved by a vote of 31-0, a strong show of bipartisan support infrastructure investment has in Congress, and a rejection of the Trump Administration’s proposal to eliminate funding for the National Network. “Thanks to bipartisan cooperation on this Subcommittee, Senator Reed and I have drafted a bill that accommodates the priorities of many Members. We received input from 75 Senators with more than 950 requests, all of which we carefully evaluated,” said Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee.

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