Amtrak statement on General and Legislative Annual Report and Fiscal Year 2023 Grant request

For 50 years, Amtrak its state and commuter partners, and our customers have been looking to the Federal government to dedicate the necessary resources to intercity passenger rail so that Amtrak can more completely fulfill its mission to serve the American people in cities, suburbs, and small towns across the country. With the recent enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Amtrak is about to begin a new era – with a historic level of federal investment for certain critical capital projects and a clear plan to transform and grow our business.

However, for Amtrak to accomplish what Congress intended and what is required by the IIJA, Amtrak’s annual appropriation is more important than ever. In addition to directly providing guaranteed one-time funding, Congress also used the IIJA to authorize additional annual funding – in effect, setting non-binding targets intended tin inform, but not control, the annual appropriations process – for Amtrak’s NEC and NN grants for FY 2022 – FY 2026. Our requested FY 2023 annual grant will allow Amtrak to continue operating our Long-Distance trains, which connect communities across the nation; to continue partnering with states to provide short-distance corridor service; and to continue normalized replacement (necessary maintenance and sustainment) of aged assets on the Northeast Corridor, all while facing new levels of uncertainly and disruption from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Consistent with the authorized levels that Congress enacted just four months ago in the IIJA, Amtrak is requesting $3.3 billion in total grant funding for FY 2023.