President Joe Biden is traveling to Bear, Delaware, on Monday to announce billions in new funding for Amtrak, even as the company fails to turn a profit, according to the White House.
The Biden administration is investing $16.4 billion in Amtrak, the national passenger railroad company of the U.S., to fund 25 passenger rail projects along the company’s Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C., to Boston, Massachusetts, according to an announcement from the White House. Since its establishment in 1971, Amtrak has never had a profitable year and predicts that it will continue to lose around $1 billion per year, according to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. (RELATED: Jobs Data Shows Government Employment Soared To Record High For Non-Census Year)
“The investments announced today will rebuild tunnels and bridges that are over 100 years old; upgrade tracks, power systems, signals, stations, and other infrastructure; and, advance future projects to significantly improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and reducing delays,” the White House said in the announcement. “Combined with Amtrak’s nearly $9 billion fleet replacement program, which will replace over 1,000 locomotives and coaches with state-of-the art and Made-in-America equipment, these investments will ensure that train service is more convenient and climate-friendly than either driving or flying.”
🎉 12 major Amtrak projects will receive $10 billion in @USDOTFRA funding to transform the NEC and your future travel experience.
Combined with partner projects also funded today, this work will modernize America’s busiest rail corridor.
Learn more: https://t.co/ajtz0fkpEI pic.twitter.com/k0r5CsveX0
— Amtrak (@Amtrak) November 6, 2023
The Biden administration is using funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, bringing the total amount invested by the administration in Amtrak to $66 billion, the largest amount since the company’s creation, according to the announcement. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed near the end of 2021 and approved $1.2 trillion in new spending over the next decade for projects like roads, bridges, ports, waterways, rural broadband access and more.
The funding will create more than 100,000 union construction jobs for the projects, according to the announcement. Amtrak sees around 800,000 trips per day in the Northeast Corridor, the most heavily traveled region that the company operates in.
Even as Amtrak reports losses year-over-year, the company gives huge salaries to its 19,000 employees. For fiscal year 2022, the average employee made $121,000, while the top executives made between $504,000 and $780,000 per year.
The White House and Amtrak did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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