Transcripts For CSPAN2 Amtrak 20240705

These cable providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. Up next a house transportation and infrastructure subcommittee hears testimony from amtrak c. E. O. Steven gardner and the executive director of the northwest Corridor Commission on improving Train Service and efficiency. They also discuss passenger safety, route options in the midwest and west coast and high speed rail. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the subcommittee will come to order. I ask unanimous consent that the chair may call recess at any time. Without objection, so ordered. I recognize myself for Opening Statement for five minutes. Todays hearing examines the current and future state of amtrak. The Infrastructure Investment and job act gave historic funding to railroads with a large portion of that money going to amtrak. Amtrak is a federally chartered corporation with the federal government as the majority stake holder. Its board of directors is appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. Amtraks funding largely comes from the federal government versus from ticket revenue. Without objection significant taxpayer support we know that amtrak could not operate. Since its creation in 1971, amtrak has never made a profit. 1971. Amtrak has never made a profit. Despite the funding provided in ija, amtrak predicts ill will lose 1 billion work a b, per year with those losses largely imoiferred taxpayers. My democrat colleagues like to note that highways an airlines also rely on government subsidies to operate. Those modes receive federal support they are also essential forms of transportation and high use and high demand by the American People. Unlike amtrak, americans could not travel and function as they do without the use of highways an airplanes. And during the covid19 pandemic, amtrak ridership and revenues plummeted as commuters stayed home or chose to use other modes of transportation. Ultimately, amtrak received billions of extra dollars in covid relief to operate largely empty trains for several months. Today, we will examine the state of amtraks postcovid recovery. While amtrak has regained ridership in recent months well hear about their plans to continue both the demand and ticket revenue. Amtraks losses arise mostly entirely from its National Network in Long Distance routes. Rather than focusing on attracting riders to existing route, amtrak now seeks to expand this network, risking a greater expense to the taxpayer. Some of these new routes will require the states to cover costs and losses. In fairness to amtrak, prior to the pandemic, it was on a path to achieve profitability for the first time fluffily 50 years. First time in roughly 50 years. This came in response to decisions by leaders that focused on sacrifices. While growth is a positive trend,amtrak must focus on improving its Current Network including system upgrades and improving safety, security and Customer Satisfaction issue that was plagued amtrak for years over expansion ambitions. In addition to spending and revenue issues, this committee has questioned amtrak about its clines with the americans with disabilities act, rising crime nits stations and train, potential transportation of Illegal Immigrants from the southern border on its trains, and generous executive bonuses despite losses and service problems. Amtrak must work to attract customers and revenues and operate as a reasonable steward of taxpayers dollars. It should ensure its network is safe and secure. Further it is necessary for amtrak to strengthen its relationship with the state, including through the development of a transparent and fair Cost Allocation policy for statesupported amtrak routes. Finally, any potential expansion of amtrak system must allow for railroads to provide input on track sharing issues. The recent supply chain crisis further emphasizes the value of Freight Railroad in efficiently moving goods across the nation. Amtraks passenger Expansion Efforts should not be allowed to obstruct Critical Movement of Freight Railroads. I now recognize Ranking Member payne for five minutes for an Opening Statement. Mr. Payne thank you, mr. Chairman. One of the points you made, if theres an example of a pageantty somewhere in the world that is profitable on its own, please of a passenger entity somewhere in the world thats profitable on its own, i would love to know about it. Chairman graves, Ranking Member larson, and our two witnesses thank you for being here today. We are here today in an exciting time for amtrak and more broadly intercity Passenger Rail across the country. For the first time this mode of transportation has guaranteed funding for multiple years. The value of the certainty is not to be understated. This is the this is akin to the beginning of the interstate highway system which we continue to support. The bipartisan infrastructure law intiend President Biden in november, 2021, provides 22 billion in funding to amtrak through fiscal year 2026. 16 billion of which is to be invested in the National Network while the remaining 6 billion goes toward infrastructure. And that is along the northeast corridor. Another 19 billion is authorized for amtraks Capital Investments nationwide. The bipartisan infrastructure further invests 36 billion in the federalstate partnership for intercity Passenger Rail programs with 24 billion allocated explicitly to the northeast corridor. Another 7. 5 billion in funding is authorized for this grant program. Amtrak recently submitted grant applications for multiple projects through this Program Totaling roughly 9 billion. Together these projects will assist in increasing rail capacity while reducing service interruption. Projects like the Gateway Program in my home state of new jersey will improve the Passenger Experience along the northeast corridor by digging a pair of new tunnels under the hudson river and replacing the portal bridge. Both of these chokepoints over 100 years old and maintenance problems here often cause delays for passengers riding amtrak and new Jersey Transit. Other projects along the northeast corridor such as the Frederick Douglass tunnel in baltimore need restoration. This tunnel is 150 years old. The oldest along the corridor. Water damage and tight curves force a train to slow down to 30 Miles Per Hour adding precious minutes to trips for travelers across maryland and the rest of the corridor. Similarly theres much work to be done on inner city rail projects across the country including bringing stations into compliance with the americans with disabilities act. Addressing amtraks aging rail cars and locomotives. And replacing bridges like the San Luis Rey River bridge in san diego, california. I look forward to new and improved corridors that can be advanced with this funding. The federal Rail Administration recently received numerous proposals for the corridor i. D. Program. This will be the template for Passenger Rail expansion in the coming years. Established corridors in North Carolina and california will finally have a consistent federal partner. New corridors are ripe for development in texas, nevada and the gulf coast. I look forward to the federal Railroad Administrations project pipeline that will identify Capital Projects needed to develop these and other corridors. All of this funding, all of these project, and all of the benefits that future generations will enjoy would not be possible without our efforts in the 117th congress when it passed the bipartisan infrastructure law in this chamber and sent it to President Biden for signature. 100 billion in funding for rail projects included in this monumental law is a game changer for communities nationwide. I look forward to diving in to some of the details with our witnesses shortly. With that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. Mr. Nehls mr. Payne yields. I recognize the Ranking Member of the full committee, mr. Larson, for five minutes for the Opening Statement. Mr. Larson thank you, chairman nehls and mr. Payne, for holding this hearing on improving amtrak across the country. The bipartisan infrastructure bill is a monumental achievement that supercharged our nations investment in rail. It provided bold, longterm investments across Transportation Systems and infrastructure creating jobs and benefiting our economy. Just last week the bureau of labor stats reported they added 300,000 jobs in may, including 25,000 construction jobs and 24,000 warehouse jobs. For inner city Passenger Rail doctor intercity Passenger Rail specifically, they guaranteed funding for repair investment and development, makes possible for the First Time Ever dedicated, reliable federal funding, disbursed over the next few years to expand and improve intercity Passenger Rail. Among the recipients was the city of burlington, washington, in the great state of washington, which is awarded a 2 million plans gran planning great to remove a grate crossing which will increase mobility for all rail traffic. Burlington mayor steve sexton brought this idea to me nearly a decade ago and im pleased to see the project awarded the funding it needs to improve safety and reduce congestion. Projects like this are improving the quality of life and creating jobs, Washington State has led the way in improving funding so far. I expect Great Results for our communities that will come from this grant and the additional rail funding to come as well. Amtrak and the f. R. A. Can now enact longterm plans for passenger expansion and improvement, secure in the knowledge that funding will be there in future years. The bipartisan budget agreement protected d. I. L. Funding including this vital rail funding and demonstrates support on both sides of the aisle to maintain these investments. I look forward to hearing from both of our Witnesses Today about the differences this budget certainty has made for them in developing sustaining programs and how this will improve service for rail panels. I want to apologize to mr. Warren for missing our meeting yesterday, it was an airplane issue, not a rail issue, that prevented me getting here on time. The demand for more frequent, more reliable Passenger Service is real. Cities and counties across the nation want increased access to the national Passenger Rail network. They know it will help them grow and thrive and provide a greener way to move people. Communities that have rail service want Better Service and those who done have rail service want service to start. Residents in my district were frustrated that covid shuttered several routes in my district, including one that involves seattle and can davment it took seven years to restart service after Hurricane Katrina, for those in gulf community, i share the frustration you and your constituents have experienced. As we did fighting if rail communitying in b. I. L. , we are committed to helping get regular, reliable Passenger Rail service. Of the 100 billion provided for rail in b. I. L. , 66 billion was provided in the form of advanced appropriations. The remaining 34 billion is subject to future appropriations. So i think we should continue to push for congress to fully fund its interconstituent city passenger lines, to reduce emissions and build a cleaner, greener, safer, and more accessible transportation network. B. I. L. Is also an investment in the work force, funding will be used to grow a welltrained, diverse work force to build, operate and maintain a national intercity Passenger Rail network. The investment in b. I. L. Is a great start but Congress Needs to build on this by securing a reliable funding dream for intercity rail. Highway, transit, airports andujar boars have access to trust funds allowing them to fund major, longterm Capital Projects without having to wait for annual appropriations process. Its past time to do this for rail. This committee will have the opportunity to hear from two witnesses on the frontlines in turn theegz investment into tangible services we can rely on. We will also examine amtraks plans for Service Growth and hear from one ofamtraks partners on how it will improve Passenger Rail in that region. I look forward to hearing from witnesses about their vision for the future of Passenger Rail. With that, i yield back. Mr. Nehls mr. Larsen yields. Ill take a minute to explain our lighting system to the witnesses. Tbleen means go, yellow, youre running out of time, red means pump the brakes. I ask unanimous consent that the witnesses full statements be included into the record. Without objection, so ordered. Your written testimony is then made part of the record. The subcommittee asks you limit oral remarks to five minutes. With that, mr. Gardner, youre recognized for five minutes. Mr. Gardner good morning, chairman nehls, Ranking Member larsen and others. Let me start with the strong year amtrak is having in 2023. Safety is our number one priority and its importance was highlighted by the tragic accident in india. Our heart goes out to those impacted and its a solemn reminder that our work is never done. Im glad to report, however that through march, amtraks rate of reportable injuries is 20 better than our annual goal and we have not had a single ntsbinvestigated accident this year. Im also proud to say we have returned service to all of our network. While several routes are still with less frequency than prepandemic, we are progressing the plan to add more service over the coming year. We also continue to upgrade our customer experience, improve facilities and enhance food and beverage offerings. Through april, our yeartoday ridership was 84 of prepandemic levels and in april it was 9 . By next year we expect to reach our level of 32 million riders again. This is remarkable and the best performance of any u. S. Passenger rail operator. Ridership does remain impacted by insufficient equipment and reduced business travel. Both have affect revenue, making Adequate Funding for the northeast corridor even more vital. Speaking of financials, through april of f. Y. 2023, our adjusted operating loss was 444 million, 53 million better than our plan. Our recovery has risen to 76 . Were still a ways off from achieving break even results as we were on track to do in f. Y. 2020 due to the more than three years of significant Cost Increases and lost revenue growth. But we see a path for our train operations business to return there under an apples to apples comparison in about five years. Let me also mention how the finances of the company have changed dramatically due to the large influx of capital funding. Amtrak is no longer shrimp a Passenger Rail operator but are now a Major Construction Company Executing a major capital program. This creates additional operating expenses that didnt exist before. Regarding economics, congress was leer in the iiaj that the statutory goal is to maximize benefits not minimize our need for them. You can be sure well continue to play a balance on pursuit of improved Financial Performance woar statutory goals. Through the iija, for the first time in amtraks history, congress and the administration are now investing at the levels needed to achieve these goals. Since i last appeared before the subcommittee, amtrak has begun to receive our iija funds and put them to good use. With our partners, we recently applied for about 10 million in grants and were advance manage key projects including construction of the new hudson river tunnel and rehab of our east river tunnels, both of which will begin next year. Construction of portal north in new jersey which is about 25 complete. Advancing our b. M. P. Tunnel Replacement Program and projects in connecticut and maryland. Manufacturing our now aerotrain by siemens is sacramento, california, and our new trains by a company in upstate new york with suppliers from all across america. Procurement of oa new fleet of Long Distance trains, completion of 112a. D. A. Projects in stations all across our network over the next 16 months, startup of two new state supported services between new orleans and mobil and the twin and mobile and the twin cities and chicago late they are year. Services from mississippi to dallasfort worth and support for many of the more than 90 applications by states and cities from across america to the f. R. A. s porter i. D. Program to develop new and enhanced services. Were excited by this progress and its important to note that it will take sustained federal support to develop a 21st century Passenger Rail network. In the near term we need adequate appropriations to maintain and operate our trains. In the longterm we need a reliable funding mechanism like other transportation modes have so we can efficiently plan and deliver our network. Lastly, good, ontime performance is fundamental to our business and we continue to face challenges with some of our Host Railroad partners. I hope this subcommittee will work with us on these issues so we can better serve the whole nation and your constituents. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for your time. I look forward to your questions. Mr. Nehls thank you, mr. Gardner. Mr. Warner, you are recognized for five minutes. Mr. Warner good morning, chairman nehls, Ranking Member payne, Ranking Member larsen, im mitch warren, executive director of the northeast Corridor Commission. The commission was created by congress to improve the corridor through better coordination among amtrak, states, Commuter Rail operators, and the federal government. Thank you for envieding me to discuss our work and the renewable of americas oldest and busiest Passenger Rail system. The northeast corridor brings hundreds of thousands of intercity and commuter passengers to work, family visits and low pressure activity every day. However these riders rely on infrastructure with tens of billions of dollars in stated repair needs including 15 midge bridges and tunnels over 100 years old and in need of replacement. Given these historic challenges, i cannot overstate what an exciting time this is for the northeast corridor. After decades of underinvestment, the n. E. C. Finally has the down payment it needs to rebuild infrastructure that dates back to the period between the civil war and world war ii. Thanks to the work of congress and the Biden Administration, the Infrastructure Investment and jobs act, the n. E. C. Has its first ever source of dead kaitd multiyear funding, providing exactly the kind of predictability needed to efficiently deliver a major capital program. The commissions decadelong effort to build a foundation of trust, transparency, collaboration and accountability have put our members in position to invest this historic funding. The commissions voting members represent u. S. D. O. T. , amtrak, northeast states and the district of columbia. The commission was authorized in recognition of the complexities of a corridor that has multiple right of way owners and rail operate yrs and which supports over 2,000 trains a day including high speed trains, northeast regional and Long Distance trains, commuter trains, and Freight Trains. In 2021, the Commission Approved connect n. E. C. 2035 a collaborative effort to define the corridors state of good repair and improvement needs and stage and sequence these Infrastructure Investments over 15 years. Connect n. E. C. , which will be updated every two year is the plan to rebuild and grow the corridor. Thanks to the fund provided to the bipartisan infrastructure law, each critical project suddenly has a path forward, promising more reliable, more frequent and Faster Service for the workers, travelers and businesses that depend on the corridor. The commission is now look at the challenges our members face in delivering these critical projects. To this end we are developing and Implementation Coordination Program that will bring the project delivery the same kind of transparency collaboration and accountability that the commission has brought to cost sharing and planning. This program will focus on improving the interagency coordination needed among our members as they partner to deliver projects. The i. C. P. Will track project progress and provide an Early Warning system. With when projects threat ton go offschedule due to coordination issues. The challenges in front of us are formidable but success is critical to the regions vitality and growth. Essential to this success is what it took to build the interstate highway system essential to this success is what it took to build the interstate highway system and with the bil delivered per Passenger Rail. It dedicated multiyear Funding Sources about the predict a blue needed to efficiently deliver major capital program. Even more funding is necessary over the longterm to address all the improvement needs. The federal Railroad Administrations inventory includes projects the total over 100 billion. That was with future funding needs, bipartisan infrastructure law is a game changer for the core door. After decades of falling further behind when it comes to replacing aging infrastructure, a Brighter Future lies ahead. We thank congress and President Biden for this historic investment that will benefit travelers for generations to come. Members are eager to deliver these critical rail project that will generate meaningful economic, transportation, and environmental benefits to the region in the nation. Thank you for inviting me to speak on behalf of the commission. I look forward to answering your questions. Thank you. I now ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the following letter from the association of american railroads and the coalition for the northeast core door as well as a letter from the Rail Passengers Association ceo. Without objection so ordered. I would like to thank you both for your testimony, we will now turn to questions from the panel and i will recognize myself for 5 minutes. I appreciate you got the chief behind you there. Thank you for coming. I want to bring to your attention, im sure you are familiar with the office of the Inspector General, this report that talks about safety and security and amtrak has opportunities to strengthen controls over highsecurity, are you familiar with this report . Yes, mr. Chairman. Are you familiar with the report . Ive not had a chance to read it yet. Mr. Gardner is familiar with the report. Im trying to read this and there are so many reductions. They redacted so much, some type of safety or security concern. Can you assure the members of this committee that amtrak is doing everything it possibly can with employees that are authorized to have a key or employees that are no longer working, either resigned or terminated, they dont keep their keys, it is a sign of these highrisk security areas . What are you doing to make sure that we can protect amtrak . Thank you, absolutely. As a result of the good work of the Inspector General, we are revamping our key control process. I can tell you for a long time these switch keys have been around in collectors hands and when i was on the Freight Railroad side as a switchman with access to many of them those days are over, we are controlling these tightly and we appreciate the oigs work. It is very damaging in my humble opinion. I think the gentleman sitting between you two may be able to help you with getting these keys to individuals that should no longer have them and there was a report out there that some knucklehead or former employee was selling these things and putting them on the internet, could become a big problem for all of us. How much money will amtrak receive through i g over the next 5 years, how much money . It is 22 billion is the advanced appropriation funding to amtrak directly. The other portions go to the department of transportation. 22 billion, that is a lot of money. Absolutely. I want to spend a moment talking about chrissy in chrissy grant. With the enormous amount of money amtrak is getting from the american taxpayers, i am recommending, suggesting that amtrak should not be allowed anymore Grant Funding over the next 5 years while you are receiving tens of billions of dollars over the next 5 years. When you look at that, in 2022, 1. 4 billion, for those who dont know what chrissy stands for it is consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program and by hearing the testimony from the minority and hearing testimony you are getting billions and billions of dollars to help with your infrastructure, your improvement, chrissy Grant Funding in my humble opinion should be set aside for the class 2s and class iii. I am just letting you know that it would be my intent while you are receiving billions and billions of taxpayer dollars over the next five years that amtrak should not be allowed to participate in the chrissy grant program. You stated security and 23 and i appreciate the fact that 84 ridership, you will get to 89 and eventually by the end of the are you will get to the 2019 levels which would be 30 million passengers. Next year we will achieve 32 million. I think thats great and you did state security or safety is your number one priority, i appreciate that. I have had the chief in my office, we were talking about safety, traveling on a train, i was an old lawman for several years and understand a little about safety and security and i was always puzzled by the fact that i can jump on that train outside washington dc, i can purchase a ticket, dont have to provide any id, i can pay for cash, you can take that ticket, give it to the guy and he can give it to someone else, theres no matching bags or anything, you can just carry a couple suitcases on a train, you dont have any detectors or anything to go through to get on that train. How is amtrak, what are you doing to make sure you dont get some individual that has bad intentions, someone carrying her firearm, from getting on a train, i cant get on an airplane with a bottle of water. I cant get on an airplane even having a glass of water. It appears to me that to get on amtrak train you dont have to have any id, your bags dont have to match the manifest, you are not inspected, youve got puppies out there sniffing but what are you doing in rural areas to make sure you can keep those passengers as safe as possible . For each of our individual railroads, safety and security are the foundation. We cant have riders if you are not promising, guaranteeing their safety and security. As a commission we focus on infrastructure so it is an issue more for individual members than we have addressed as a commission. When that is a separate safety committee, that was created separate from us, we focus on the infrastructure, cost sharing and coordinated planning. Those are Critical Issues for members and riders but the commission itself is not something that we have addressed directly. I find it disturbing in many ways that this is public transportation, billions of dollars, we had tragedies on 9 11 with an aircraft and look what we did, we created a whole new organizations and put billions of dollars into it to make sure people traveling on airplanes across the country are safe and then you look at amtrak operations and i the chief behind me is thinking im doing everything i can, you have billions of dollars now, you have to try not to convince me but show me that safety is an actual priority and you re doing everything you can. I will finish it up with this. I read this about the board meeting, you have these board meetings, i dont think they are open to the public. Dont think they are part of the public record. I think transparency is so important and bonuses. Would you care to share with me what your salary is every year . What is your salary . Your annual salary . The annual salary is a matter of record, currently, in my position a little less than 500,000 a year. I appreciate you willing to share it. The American People deserve to know. 174. I could tell you every salary of every person serving in the United States military, pretty much public record. When you have these meetings and they are not open to the public when it talks about bonuses did you receive a bonus last year, did you take a bonus . Fiscal year 22, yes. Can i ask how much the bonus was . I would have to get you the specific numbers but it is a portion of the salary based on the companys performance. As im sure you know, Congress Passed a law encouraging us to develop a pay for performance system, the Inspector General recommended, the gao regimented we use this in order to entice great employers the company and retain them, the salaries we provided amtrak pale in comparison to our Freight Railroad counterparts for which many of our employees come. Its essential we have the best employees doing the publics work, delivering on this incredible investment plan. Will use this as a retention tool that its very consistence with private sector business everywhere. I appreciate that. I just think when its taxpayers money, transparency is important, it should be transparent and there should be no reason you wouldnt be willing to share with, you did share your salary, 20 , 50 , the american taxpayer has a right to know what they are paying their leaders at amtrak. I will now yield 5 minutes to Ranking Member larsen for his question. Mr. Payne, im sorry, mr. Payne. Thank you. In reference to the question asked of Stephen Gardner in terms of his salary. Bonuses, i think it pales in comparison to the freight rails compensation on the other side which is not open to the public. We know that their compensation in the past several years has been in the millions. We thank you, for working at a bargainbasement salary. Some parts of the country are slowly recovering from covid, the innercity radio ridership, others almost fully recovered. An excellent example can be found in the ridership numbers and investments made in North Carolina and virginia. Please tell us the state transportation agencies are doing differently, what they are doing differently to drive an increase in the innercity rail, what amtrak is doing to assist state transportation agencies in fulfilling these goals. Thank you for the question. North carolina and Virginia Service is really exceptional and i think the key is really three things, will a sustained program of investment and leadership in the state. The states have the state have excellent rail departments that focus on their programs in partnership with us and railroads and they are willing to invest significantly. While i agree with the chairman our focus has to be on improving the network we have and rebuilding our assets and that is what the i ij fund relieves allows us to do. What it doesnt allow us to do is focus on improvement in different areas and thats why other funding is necessary but the dollars here that are provided for the state expansion are coming from the state and virginia has invested roughly 4 billion to upgrade the infrastructure between washington and richmond, in partnership with csx at amtrak. That investment has been critical, their leadership has been critical at the state level in their focus on connecting markets and Building Investments that support connectivity to rail so theres a great new station in raleigh and another in charlotte and real focus on providing frequency, North Carolina is about to add 1 4 piedmont frequency, passengers have trains they can take at the right times, the right trip time to connect to those markets. We see virginia through its service to the south in roanoke, and nor folk, newport news, richmond, really exceeding their goals in terms of ridership growth coming back from the pandemic and great opportunity longterm to further connect the northeast corridor to the southeast and really build coastal connection of highquality reserves. Mr. Warren, one of the many benefits of the rail Service Across the northeast core door is getting cars off the road and preventing Additional Air traffic in our already congested airspace. Can you please elaborate on how proposed Infrastructure Projects across the northeast core door to reduce the state of good repair backlog will benefit communities in the region economically and have these impacts, will impact the global fight against Climate Change . Thank you. Transportation sector that emits the highest level of Greenhouse Gases, the more we can do to attract riders to northeast core door trains most of which are electrified, the more we can reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions with the added benefit of reducing automobile congestion. I rode down much of the core door from massachusetts, connecticut through new york, new jersey, delaware this weekend and i wish more people including myself were taking a train for that trip but a lot of the work we are doing to create more Reliable Service, more frequent service, Faster Service will bring more riders and it will take riders from automobiles and airplanes, both of which emit significantly more Greenhouse Gas emissions and add to congestion on our roads, i95 and other roads and Aviation Systems so that the more we can implement our plan, bring more riders to amtrak and commuter trains on the court or the better off we will be both from a congestion perspective and acclimate perspective. The few times i dont use amtrak to come to work, i drive down and i have to leave between midnight and 4 00 in the morning to bypass all that traffic between new jersey and washington dc. Thank you for that. This question is for both of our witnesses. Working on this for the fra funding but in the meantime, could you share what efforts you are making to ensure contracts are going to create a level Playing Field where Small Businesses owned and controlled by these individuals . Im pleased to report weve made a lot of progress on supplier diversity. We have Supplier Diversity Program which includes minority and Women Owned Business enterprises, Veterans Service disabled veteran owned businesses, disadvantaged business enterprises, Small Businesses etc. And we set a goal of 15 of contracting and procurement from these entities and in 2022 we exceeded the goal of achieving 25 , roughly 484 million in spend with diverse suppliers. Weve been working really hard to do that. In 23 we are at 27. 8 of our spend through diverse suppliers and a new upgraded Supplier Diversity Office which is doing 27 outreach events throughout this year and new Small Business Resource Center because there are many Small Businesses of all types out there that have important capabilities to offer amtrak and the Rail Industry as we are growing and we are working hard to create a bigger supply base to get better quality but also better pricing and ensure redundancy in terms of supply. As we saw during the pandemic, supplychain challenges certainly impacted us and we want to have a robust base of potential suppliers. This is Good Business to invest in a diverse range of suppliers who can meet needs from all across america and allow us to succeed. Thank you. Mr. Warren. The commission doesnt do contract with the Major Construction projects, the project managers. One opportunity is in workforce development, Workforce Needs along the corridor are tremendous, they invest these new funds and we need to go out and find new workers, not the traditional workers weve always had. We have to go out and do more job training and do this in nontraditional places. That is a major potential opportunity to diversify the workforce, expand the workforce, it creates jobs, creates equitable jobs and helps us deliver significant projects that need to be delivered. Thank you, mister chairman, for your consideration. I yelled back. Now recognize my colleague from the great state of texas, mr. Babin. Appreciate your being here today. The chairman, to followup some of his line of questioning, is it legal to carry a firearm or any weapon on amtrak . By passengers . No, congressman, we do not permit firearms on board other than commute can transport your firearm. A permit for the state it is traveling through. Even if you have a permit to carry it through the state you are traveling on. Thats right. We do not allow firearms on board. Passengers screaming protections on amtrak are nothing like on air travel, even what the public must go through to enter into this very building here. The bright line intercity Passenger Rail system in florida has an plummeted screening technologies to help prevent persons from bringing dangerous weapons on its trains. Not as comprehensive as the Airport Technology but it is better than nothing. If you are sitting there and someone has broken the law and has a weapon and you are totally defenseless, youre pretty much up the creek. Why hasnt amtrak invested in similar Screening Technology to protect the passengers of amtrak . Thank you for your question. We take security very seriously and we are using a multilayered system to protect our passengers, and probably have very good results. Incidents are quite rare on amtrak but i share your concern that as we continue opportunities to increase security are really important. A couple things we do already. We have random screening with tsa, we have a large fleet of trained dogs for both explosives and other interdiction. We partner with dhs for our viper teams to do inspection in those spots, federal air marshals, in partnership with them to be part of our Security Forces on our trains, we increased our workforce and weve put many more officers on trains in the field, we are looking at the technology you discussed, in many stadiums and others using relatively unintrusive but potentially effective materials and methods to further screen. We have a big network of 500 stations across america, hundreds of thousands including commuter passengers and some quite small trying to think about how we can embed technology into our trains to increase security. Amtrak receives relatively little funding from tsa and it has relatively little. For us to increase significantly in this, we do need and will need greater partnerships and support what we are interested in this and are taking it seriously. I hope so because if you are not allowing private lawabiding citizen passengers to protect themselves, you have to protect them. Keep bad actors from bringing weapons aboard. Last congress, the infrastructure law gave amtrak a medicine amount of funding addition to that amtrak may apply itself or other federal funding programs and grants including chrissy grants the the chairman mentioned in federal, state partnerships, chrissy grants are oversubscribed already and countless more rail safety projects in need of funding, there are 95 applications for the fed state program but only 30 or so will be funded. Amtraks annual legislative report, you seek to get greater permission to use federal funds that you received from the i ij a that serves your matching contribution for these other grants. Do you feel it is appropriate for other stakeholders such as state and local governments or short line railroads to have to compete against amtrak for these limited funds . Let me say we support the chrissy program. We support class 2 and 3 partners and the broad eligibility of chrissy. It is important to understand the dollars that have come to amtrak are for very specific set of purposes, cant use them for many of the activities we might need to for improving the railroad there, focused on a state of good repair, replacement activities for our fleet, our stations and infrastructures so those dollars are not eligible for every activity and the safety focus is unique, that is what we fundamentally seek to partner almost always with states and localities and other carriers to find opportunities for improvement, further investments in the positive train control system where the system is not required but we think is appropriate. Track upgrades with railroads, where the track is out of, falling below standards for Amtrak Service so these are things we think are good uses of dollars, not things we could use our funds from the ia j to otherwise accomplish, and amtrak, relatively small portion of the total chrissy pot. Most of the dollars are going to Freight Railroads for safety programs and we support that. Im out of time, i yelled back. I recognize Ranking Member larsen for five minutes. We had our last hearing on the topic in december of 20 one, just after the bil passed. One of the challenges, making sure enough people were hired to implement the funding. Can you update us on what your people plan looks like and where you are in achieving that . Yes, sir, Ranking Member larsen, appreciate the question. We have had Great Results in our hiring efforts. We are changing the whole scale of the company and last year we hired 3700 people, this year we hired 2700 houck folks. By the end of the year we will have hired many additional employees, summers attrition and normal retirements to create more capacity. Those jobs are across america. We have a three Province Network focusing across different functions so a significant portion of those are craft hires, folks maintaining infrastructure but weve invested in our Program Management design capacity, all of the professionals out there to help us build new projects and update our infrastructure and procure this new fleet. Are there areas during the pandemic you lost people proportionately in a function at have to buy that up in particular . Notably our mechanical forces, we are well above the levels we had prepandemic to create the capacity to maintain our equipment mostly driven by the fact theres huge demand for skilled workers in this area, electricians, welders, machinists, massive demand and being competitive has been hard for us in certain regions of the country. We worked hard and create a new apprenticeship program, this is a program that is supported through grant funds with various unions and rolling out across our mechanical facilities so we can train folks and give them the capabilities they need to serve amtrak but also lifelong skills so it has been a good partnership. Really it is a historic investment in hiring people to have Passenger Rail. Absolutely. We are doing hiring amtrak would do in a year, now, that we would take half a decade to have done previously. Because of the new capacity. Its a chance to build a new generation of rail workers, one of the most exciting things, we are building a new generation of skilled employees who are here to contribute to the mission. Thanks. The commission, you mentioned your focus on infrastructure. Dealing with your partners, do you have a similar set of issues in hiring people to make these projects work . To make these projects happen . One of the Biggest Challenges to implementing all these projects, spending the money from the infrastructure bill is hiring workers. Every one of our members, stephen talked about hiring they are doing, it is critical. Its not easy. It is a tight labor market. That hiring has to be done, creating a lot of good jobs but it is essential if these projects move forward. Theres a lot of work that needs to be done on the court or and nationwide but our focus is the court or and you got to have the workforce, management and labor, to make it happen. Without the funding certainty of the infrastructure bill amtrak wouldnt be hiring as much as it is right now. Funding is critical to giving our members the confidence to go out and hire and train, everyone you higher, you are training, sometimes for a year or more. Second point i want to make in my Opening Statement was that passengers want more rail service. This is not to say how great Washington State and the northwest is, we tend to be more ahead in other areas but, who is in second place and who is last . What work needs to take place in different areas of the country to get caught up . Thank you, sir. We have generally restored frequencies to all our roots across the United States, but you are right the we have a Strong Program in the Pacific Northwest, Cascade Service and Washington States leadership has been tremendous. The goal later this fall is to introduce service and its important to go back to vancouver and have two roundtrips there and when you look at the current statesupported system, weve seen a lot of enthusiasm from all over. Its important to note this drive to grow his state community driven. Amtrak is the partner but this is decision states make to decide to expand or invest in service. Part of the big challenge for the Current Network you have to wrap up. A lot of places that dont have Passenger Rail service at levels that exist like the cascades, the cascades, the mountain west, we see a lot of interest from communities there. Thank you, mr. Chair. I recognize mister desaulnier. I want to talk about safety and security. Between 20192021, Amtrak Police department received 400,000 emergency calls annually. This is over double what we received in previous years. What is the current size of the Amtrak Police force . Thank you for the question and our current workforce is about 406, 407. Would you consider that fully staffed . Our goal, to be fully staffed, is 431, which we believe we will achieve by the end of this fiscal year. We have a lot of folks in training. It is a competitive environment to get qualified Law Enforcement folks. We are working to achieve that. Im glad you said this in your Opening Statement, safety is the number one priority. At amtrak. Strategic plan suggests you are restructuring and modernizing and training. What does that restructure and modernized training look like . I think the core of our strategy is to deploy our resources across our network where they can be most effective. We are very datadriven organization, the chief who is behind me leads our efforts to prioritize our response across the network, make sure we have the right assets in the right space and to create the right modern training methods and the right force philosophy so that we can serve our communities well. That means more train rides. Did you say forced philosophy . Forced . Our ipd force, policing philosophy and how we integrate with partners as you know we are across the nation and we have to partner with local Police Forces plus the fbi, tsa and others and that is a key to the way that we ensure security, by this relationship of partners across the network. Apd is a priority for amtrak . Its a priority for amtrak. I want to get back to your salary, 500,000, you received a bonus and you said in your words to keep great employees and retain them you need bonuses. Any members of the apd receive bonuses . Our management workforce is part of a program. Yes or no . Did any Amtrak Police force members on the line receive bonuses, did they contribute to your percentage of a bonus . Management employees did. The other employees are covered by a collectivebargaining agreement. They receive bonuses. Not for their contracts. Moments ago, you said it was a high priority, to give bonuses you need, in order to keep great employees and retain them bonuses were part of that . So it seems at this moment, those boots on the ground to keep passengers safe which is your priority they didnt receive a dime, nothing extra. Nothing extra. You had executives that received bonuses of 200,000 a year paid primarily by the american taxpayer. I represent minnesota, 55,000, you received it a bonus almost four times with a hardworking men and women i represent and some of that tax money went to your boss. Do you think thats fair . I would say the representative members of the apd received a variety of benefits associated with their collective bargaining agreement. We negotiate that as we do all our unions and the amtrak management case, we traded off a pension 10 years ago almost and put compensation guarantee for employees 15 seconds left. Im concerned that amtrak is prioritizing growth over customer safety. Those Police Officers see that you are getting bonuses and your executive board are getting bonuses primarily paid by the american taxpayer and you cant help those Police Officers, as a former Police Officer i find that extremely offensive and i yield back. I now recognize mr. Moulton for 5 minutes. If the Amtrak Police officers want to negotiate for bonuses in their contract, are they allowed to take that to the next collective bargaining negotiation . Absolutely. Thank you very much. I would like to get back to a conversation you and i have had about efforts to decrease trip time. We talk about speed in the railroad industry, we dont focus enough on how we get people faster to where they need to go. You recently raised speeds in the chicago to st. Louis court or by quarterback 20 miles an hour to 110 Miles Per Hour. Why did it take so long to get to 110 miles an hour . Thank you for the question. Trip time is very important. A key piece of whats attractive about rail, we competitive with driving, this is a program led by the Illinois State dot together with Union Pacific funded by the fra so amtrak was a supporter but it is a state led project and it took a long time to rebuild a railway which was necessary to upgrade the signal system to handle one hundred 10 miles an hour service. Its great that weve achieved it and it is an important outcome and going to be a big game changer for service and eleanor. The 1930s a lot of trains going 100 miles an hour, 10 mile an hour improvement over what was fairly common in 1930s. Is there any plan to get chicago to st. Louis to highspeed standards like 200 miles an hour . In other words twice as fast as trains on accord or going today . Currently the plan is one hundred 10 miles an hour, to go above 110 miles an hour you would need a sealed court order in which all the crossings are eliminated and there would need to be changes in the alignment on some of those routes so those are in certain quarters, those investments are appropriate. What i think weve achieved here, what illinois has achieved is to really achieve the standard level of innercity service we should be aiming for, one hundred 10 miles an hour which allows trip time competitiveness and where there is demand an opportunity, pursuing highspeed does make sense on top of that base. I will point out regular commuters just taking trains in and out of london have been going 125 miles an hour for a few decades now. I think we could set our sights a bit high. With regards to trip time, checking the amtrak website yesterday it looks like trip times havent decreased despite the increase in fees. Currently, we are in the production season of major capital work that is occurring on the northeast corridor. We have added some time to certain trains, to reflect the fact chicago to st. Louis. Chicago st. Louis, the schedule change has not yet taken place. We are in testing of the new speeds but the Upcoming Schedule change will occur here soon. Even though the trains are operating faster, the schedules remain at the current speeds until we have validated everything man that will happen soon. A lot of places in the northeast corridor where we have to straighten curves to improve trip times and speed. We talked about this in the past. Sent a letter in august of 22 on this issue. Have we made any improvements in trip times on the northeast corridor . Reporter we have a lot of work underway to do that. These major capital programs weve discussed are going to be the way we can change the trip time, the baltimore and potomac tunnel, as we advance that program, we will take a railroad that is today constraint to 30 miles an hour and make it 100 mile an hour alignment. A number of bridges also as we replace them will give us faster speeds and as we bundle with those improvements and upgrades to our infrastructure we are looking to shorten curves and create faster speed, as we also replace the overhead electric line. We put the new alignment in the right alignment to maximize speed. Our goal is to get 160 miles an hour anywhere the railroad permitted today with the geometry and upgrade the infrastructure to support that, both signal and power. When do you think we can actually see timetables improve on the northeast corridor . To connect nec plan we are working on updating, we are very focused on improving trip time with projects within the existing rightofway that you can do while doing basic state of the repaired modernization, you can straighten curves, replace signal systems. Next time i go to new york it is faster than it is today. When is that going to happen . It will take some time. I couldnt give you an exact trip time but it will take a number of years to add up. 30 seconds here, 30 seconds there. There are studies going on to look at new rightofway, you get significant trip time improvements. Im out of time but the American People want to see those returns. We invested billions of dollars and this is what we got. I now recognize mister burchett for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman, members. Amtrak was awarded 6figure executive bonuses despite huge losses. You attempted to take over the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars for the benefits and returns, you forced unwanted roots on your National Network with questionable customer demands, guaranteed annual losses. What is your projected annual operating loss . For this your little more than 800 million. Its down significantly from prior year and the year before. According to amtraks 5year plan for fiscal year 20222027, fiscal year, amtrak expects to lose at least 1 billion per year. You think amtrak will be cutting expenses or increasing ticket prices to address its operating losses . We been doing both. Our 5year plan is an updated for 23, you can see where anticipating a little more than 800 million, we significantly improved those numbers since our 20 to 5 year plan and we are doing on both ends as you suggest, weve got to maintain and reduce costs where we can. Its difficult in his high inflationary environment, we are 30 higher in prices than we were in 19. As we come back to revenues of 19 you see a big gap. The same time, we are trying to build revenue and are doing quite a good job at that but we are still just about to get to 2019 revenue levels and it will take a combination of both to maintain and improving trajectory. Our hope is on the train Operations Side of the business to get back to that break even process. I was amtrak for 14 years, took us a lot of work to break even in 2020 before the pandemic. I know we can do it again but it is going to take a while to overcome when you say breakeven, that is with the influx of tax dollars, correct . Yes. You dont need i appreciate it, going to run out of time. In your written testimony you stated you expect additional losses the next few years due to capital related operating cost, projected funds by the Infrastructure Investment and jobs ask. How much do you expect capital related operating costs to be . Several hundred billion dollars because we have to train the workforce and higher the workforce thats necessary to implement this program. Theres a whole series of costs associated with the capital work that we have to bear as an upfront expense particularly all the training costs, they hit the p and l so we have to double the amount of workers on the northeast corridor that are rebuilding track and signal to go for 4,000 employees to 8000 employees takes up to two years to train those folks and while we are training them they are expense, not capital. Those are the kind of extraordinary costs in support of the capital work. Its not in my notes but memory serves me there have been several exposes, you never know what is going to happen. Your commissary continues to lose money. Is that still a problem . Did you say commissary . The food and beverage, food and Beverage Food and beverage i know what you mean. Food and Beverage Service is in a porton part of amtrak product, this requires establishment of a new food and Beverage Working Group and we just received the report. Our response to the food and beverage report here this fall. In general food service is there as part of the amenities that we offer, much of the ticket price is covering the cost and people also fund through cash purchases depending which level of service. We are continuing to upgrade quality. Weve heard from many members that they want to see better quality, we ve heard that from our customers in terms of the food offerings on board so we are focused on doing that in a way thats fiscally responsible. I hope you would be fiscally responsible. At least plan for the food. I think thats just but that would be fiscally responsible move and i think congress would probably smile upon that if we were able to smile. Ive got no time left. If i could my spiritual mentor in this committee. I would like to ask you a question. You heard about his salary being 500,000. Compared to the tba chairmans salary. Is a cheap . I would gladly pay our chairman halfMillion Dollars. 8 million plus bonus but im not bitter about that, nor are you. I now recognize strickland for five minutes. My home state of washington has been a long time supporter and investor in passenger city rail. In my time as mayor from 20102017 i played into the gore all in the development of a new tech coma tacoma station. Local, state and federal governments all Work Together to produce Good Investments in improving our nations Rail Infrastructure, building up our workforce, im pleased to hear about the work you are doing at amtrak. I look forward to questioning this federal partnership and making sure when we put these dollars to use, they are doing what they intended. I know that Ranking Member larsen touched on strong Pacific Northwest network and i would like to start their. To start there. The Washington State department of transportation and amtrak are currently working on the Amtrak Cascades Service develop and plan with improving service over 20 years and specifically adding two more times that they are going to go between seattle and portland, talk more about this timeline and when we can expect these two frequencies, that the word im looking for, to become available to the public . Thank you for the question. Congratulations on the great station in chuck coma took home a tacoma. We anticipate two additional frequencies in october of this year. The states dictate when we bring service in and how much service we operate, the pricing philosophy, we work with our partners in washington and oregon on that schedule. Can you talk about the challenges you may face in making this reality including a women shortages, delivery delays and venture cards you need by california in the midwest state support services, you would also state that adding these two new frequencies between seattle and portland is going to depend on having enough cars available as both are being phased out. Talk about the challenges in making this reality with the supply chain. This is a major topic for us. As i am sure you know, retired the train sets in the surface, replaced those with a fleet of cars from amtraks national pool, horizon and equipment. As you mentioned, the additional cars are necessary for the service with additional frequencies coming from our midwest pool that are in fact waiting on the delivery of the venture cars to the state so they are the states procure the women directly with funding from the federal government and amtrak is the operator of that equipment but also delivery between siemens and the states, we were supposed to start this year with 60 new cars as part of this program in service but in fact those were delayed and are still coming into service now. We have 50 in service, the goal is to have 60 inservice. We are making Good Progress as a manufacturer, they are working well together to deliver the sacrament and get it inservice but that is why we had a shortage of equip to the midwest and that has cascaded across the rest of the network. We are anxious to continue those deliveries, get the Service Equipment into service and then be able to deploy equipment to support the additional frequencies in washington and oregon. Anything else my colleagues and i can do in the northwest to better support your efforts to expand the service . As you said, leadership in washington and oregon, and longterm relationship and planning activities set the service up for success because theres a strong vision of the service and how it can progress. Certainly partnership with two Host Railroads in santa fe and Union Pacific are key, working with them to get better ontime performance and onto continue the opportunities to expand cooperatively with them is key, thats the main challenge in addition to equipment. I will say that our new arrow trains, the first place they arrived is the Cascades Service so we are excited for those, cascades will be the testbed for our new trains and it will be a great experience. As an editorial here, as we look at Passenger Rail service with an aging population, fewer people wanting to drive and the growing population, we know these things will be more highly used, more ridership and more revenue but it will take time because the United States is not as densely populated as places where they have more frequent service and more ridership. Thanks for being here today. I now recognize mister yakym. Mister gardner. I appreciate that you are constantly evaluating new roots and do Service Options for amtrak and your riders but it has come to my attention that amtrak is eyeing the use of the south shore rail line in my district which runs through northcentral and ultimately the west northwest indiana. Its wellestablished and regionally upgraded Commuter Rail service line going through a double track addition with the Michigan City area in order to speed up the rail line service between south bend and chicago. One of the things that im concerned about is if amtrak were to assert authority and come in on that line, what i would like to know from you, my real question is would you commit to working with the south shore to assure that it would not face any undue scheduling or burdening costs should you come in and use that line. Thank you for the question and you are right, we are looking at a variety of options, no decisions made yet how we improve our service from chicago south of the lake. This is vital to our service to michigan and Long Distance trains, vital for the number of trains we hope in the future can operate in the midwest. The south shore route is one potential route. Recently came through comprehensive upgrading and is a great passenger controlled route. We run into significant problems on the Freight Lines that are parallel to the south shore and its impact on time performance for all these trains. Certainly we would do so cooperatively with the south shore. Our conversations with them have always been about looking to see opportunity for partnership. The frequency per hour is relatively low. For instance, we have 24 trains in our on a 2 track railroad in the northeast, lots of capacity there but we have to make sure it can be utilized in a way that doesnt take from the south shores business and i think it would be a net benefit because you have another railroad to contribute as necessary and be able to be a partner for the south shore and to serve the communities that they are not all. My hope is it would be collaborative in a way that doesnt affect the south shore or putting a new cost burden, thank you for that commitment and i will continue to watch this as we go forward. I want to shift gears and understand how amtrak, you indicated in the Opening Statement, and in st. Paul minnesota. Between chicago and minneapolis. If memory serves its about 6 hours of the empire builder. Thats the service we have, from chicago to seattle and portland. What we would do for partnership between the three states involved here come minnesota, wisconsin and illinois take an existing frequency of Hiawatha Service which goes to milwaukee and run that service west from the current route to the twin cities. I am showing you are looking at 7. 5 hours of time between chicago and st. Paul on that route. How much federal and taxpayer subsidies do you expect on an annual basis for this route to get up and running . Federal taxpayer subsidy would be limited. I would get back to you on specifics for this route. The states pay the operating subsidy. Thats the deal. Which is taxpayer money. The total number is 7 million a year to get the root up and running. On a 7. 5 hour commute, you can drive it in 6 hours. Going from chicago to minneapolis, we picked a random day, august 8th. We found there are 18, nonstop flights per day between chicago and minneapolisst. Paul area and those run from 6 00 am to 10 00 pm at a cost of 84 per ticket on a random day. What im trying to understand is how is this a Good Business and financial decision for amtrak given those facts . The primary financial costs are borne by the states. They do this because they see value. Today, Origin Destination pair between the twin cities and chicago is one of our strongest on the empire builder but this is a train that comes once a day, there are many travelers who dont find the schedule convenient for the empire builder, this provides a second frequency at a different time of day that allows folks to use the train. We see people like the train for many reasons, many are too old to drive or dislike driving, air service is not always reliable particularly in bad Longworth House Office building and this creates redundancy and gives more options. Thank you, i yield back. I recognize miss napolitano for five minutes. I have several comments in several questions. I know that i served in the transportation commission. I never found the radio, always subsidized. Is that true . Yes. Requesting funding for state of good repair and infrastructure, deterioration of infrastructure and major backlog projects. Our entire history has been a source to upgrade the assets we inherited in 1971. I see in your report, it includes projects inventory, 100 billion with 40 major backlogs. Is that true . It is correct. 40 billion just for the major backlog projects, bridges and tunnels. Only giving you 22. We have only given amtrak 22. That is correct. Not quite make sense. Have been on trains in china and france and they have updated equipment. Somehow we have got to speed up our system so that we can provide essentially good service. Have the best nation in the world, am i correct . Mr. Warner absolutely. This is the foundation for all the service having a modern, reliable infrastructure and cant do that with bridges and tunnels that were built when Teddy Roosevelt was president and William Howard taft was very good. Now, how are you increasing ridership, mr. Gardner . We are working really hard to increase ridership and were seeing some great response. In fact, a third of all of our passengers on amtrak today our new passengers, riders have never written before. Their Strong Demand for Leisure Travel in particular business travels down about 30 , with that revenues but were able to back fill all of that demand by creating a reliable product and will using their promotions and price to get new passengers to take a chance on the current. How is a cost of travel amtrak and how are you attracting new ridership in california specifically . California real estate leads the program, establish the fair policyhe and approach to how we market those Services Come how they market the services and as you know im sure unfortunately they have been very specifically impacted by now three different events, a blocking event yesterday severed the route so thats been a major impact and really disconnecting san diego from los angeles but were working hard with the Host Railroads are responsible for making that to bring the service back. When you do there still a lot of frequency in california a part of this is to adjust the service to the new demands in terms of work from home but we think theres a strong future. How about the cost . Cost as relates to passenger passengers . The state policy is to keep the fares very affordable on this date service so more people can use the train. A lot ofhe people dont know that. How many people knowop that . In the state i think its a pretty wellknown bargain ire do think, in fact, to see lots of demands in various corridors but i think theres even more we can do to get the word out. Also time to delay on the affected, affected by railroad, preferential treatment not given you but where does that play in california specifically . Well, we w work closely with our host partners all over america to try and achieve Great Results for the passenger trains, respecting the Freight Railroads do need to serve see some and we difficulties though particularly in california on our route of the sunset. This is the route going east and across the southeast, excuse me, southwest, and in our service both from sacramento north and between the bay area and los angeles on the coastline. Those are areas where weve had some delays, some summer infrastructure related and some related to congestion from the freightel railroads. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Mr. Poliquin napoliw recognize mr. Burlison for five minutes. Thank you, y mr. Chairman. Mr. Gardner, i was at an Investment Advisor prior to joining thisve circus. I wanted to ask you, if i were your advisor and a brought forward a business that wanted to recommend investing in and that business lost a billion dollars every year, since its inception can what you guys are older than ive been alive, has your company ever made a profit in any single year . No. Okay. So if i brought that investment to you, would you consider me a good Investment Advisor . Well, congressman, i think the purpose of amtraks gratian was not to create a dividend for the treasury or createde an investment vehicle. Was to maintain and enhance Passenger Rail service as a fundamental piece of the mobility picture in the United States. D so i think congress has been pretty clear that its a service that requires investment just like Public Transit service february or world roads, these are things that need to exist to support commerce, to support our culture come support connectivity. Im going to get back some of my time. The question most americans ask and and i think people in my district its been said before is that when you have a business that cannot operate at operates at a deficit such as yours, how do you justify giving bonuses any amount of 200,000 to yourself and other executive . Well, again i would say that amtraks mission is to connect america or congressman quite clear about their expectations about our route service, all the operations and we do so trying to balance the needs of service and our finances and be good stewards of taxpayer money. Who owns most of the rails amtrak uses . 97 of our route miles are owned by another railway. We are a tenant. So you are a tenant. Do you pay them . We do. How much. With incremental cost by statute. It depends on the route but this is set by congress. And they are required to have you as a tenant . Yes, because remember they have the obligation to run by law and thes government relieves them of that obligation and created a federal separation to take it off. If i would ask them if they were here, you as a client are you a net loser for them . Are you reliability . No. We have an incremental cost structure which means would prefer the incremental costs associate with a use. Our trains are very light. We use very little sort of consumables of a railroad and we provide incentives for good ontime performance. Some carriers view us as a source of profit and are very focused on getting the incentive pay for good performance. One of the questions i have is we just went through this pandemic and one of the key issues for my constituents coming up was do something about the supply chain. On average what percentage are they full . Right now we are in, we have loaded factors in high 60s, so about 60 . Little over half full. But he can. Some are in the 90 . So when the segments again is different from airline because when my constituents are trying to get goods and services timely into my district, do those Freight Trains have to get preference to these 50 or 60 occupied passenger trains . By law they have to get preference but i should say that we run a triweekly train across various parts of our network. One train a day seven cars come ten cars. These are not in position to be able to deliver Freight Service to im a former train dispatcher. Ime certainly know theres ample capacity and you can run an efficient freight operation with passenger transportation. I want to press on you the impact you have on the taxpayers. When i calculate per taxpayer in my district, your impact just or deficit alone costs every taxpayer in my district at least seven dollars, okay . That may not be aas lot of money to you but to people back home they debate whether or not they will have netflix or amazon prime or if theyre going to pay the cable bill, right . And you are draining from every taxpayer seven dollars for service that most of them the vast majority of them will never use. Im asking you to reconsider your operation and try to become at least somewhat profitable. Congressman, i appreciate that. We take very seriously our role and the stewardship of federal funds where we recognize that all america pays for the service as it does of right of things the federal government invest in. We are looking to achieve breakeven. We were at breakeven essential in 2020. We wouldve ended with a net surplus have pandemic not occurred. Its going to take a while to get back a focus on improving the financials and giving the most value for the federal investment we get. Terms of our in route network. The time of the gentleman has expired. I now recognize mr. Menendez for five minutes. Thank you, chairman. And Ranking Member. My federal new jersey who cares about real is a great advocate as well. Thank you both for coming in. You can imagine serving the eighth Congressional District in new jersey, this is an important issue for me. Appreciate what you are doing to bring amtrak northeast corridor to the 21st century, continuing to find ways to bring amtrak to new riders, to create greater pay capacity. We talked to increase demand for funding, demand outpacing supply. I can tell you at the consumer level thats the same case. People want more options, more rail, deathly in new jersey, deathly and the greater tristate region. I imagine what people have access to amtrak, to rail and other parts of the country that demand is going to quickly increase there as well. In addition to the trains you are already saying so i thank you for i that. Mr. Gardner,. Your test when he described some of the key projects for which the bipartisan infrastructure will have provided funding. Specifically are testament highlights several critical pieces of the gateway project in my district. Want to take a moment to highlight the importance of these projects for my district in the entire region. How many passenger trips passed through the tenmile stretch between newark, new jersey, and penn station in new york city on annual basis . Well, congressman, thank you for the question and for your interest in this program. Prepandemic its about 200,000 trips a day between new Jersey Transit and amtrak. A majority of those trips are new Jersey Transit commuters and its a vital lifeline both for the region but also far whole system because this is the linchpin between new york and and west and all our service to the south and south and whispered appreciate that. About 200,000 200,000 ae linchpin. How many tracks does this stretch have . Two tracks, congressman, in between newark and the interlocking at penn station which is where it opens up to the station tracks. S. Right. That compares to the rest of the northeast corridor or how . Most of the northeast quarter is three tracks, for tracks. So its somewhat of a contradiction. Its a place where we have our most number of trains come together and, in fact, from newark proceed from five tracks down to three and then two. So we t have to final 24 hours a train our across a segment of ruin and its the busiest mainline in north north ar absolutely. What would happen if the hudson tunnel closes . Traffic meltdown. I think theres no doubt that if we were to lose this connection and when a disruptions unfortunately occasion y happen today you can see this in real life. Theres huge impacts across the region because there is insufficient tunnel and bridge capacity as you know well to get into new york city and across the hudson and many, many residents and travelers rely on this connection. The tunnel was severely impactedio by super storm sandy, is that correct . Thats correct. The north river, built will over 100 years, impacted in sandy at about 3 million gallons of brackish water that cut into the tunnels, having flooded in from the hudson river. They were able to remove all the water. They left a collection of chlorides and salts that are degrading both the concrete and metal elements of the interior of the tunnel. So the integrity of an old further diminished because of super storm sandyis which gets to my next question how important is a great way project to ensure future viability for the northeast quarter . Its essential to the northeast quarter, future of rail transportation of passengers really across the entire east coast, and our connections to theou west. Its essential. And as you said the core element is to build a new tunnel which allows us to repair and rehabilitate the existing tunnel and gives us redundancy anded resiliency into this a vital connection. Exactly right. So we would be strengthening, expanding the linchpin to the entire northeast quarter and does what this project is so important. I appreciate amtraks leadership making sure we continue to make progress onr,r, this vitally important project. Its one of the most important if not the most important Infrastructure Project in the country. I assure you my support. Chairman, Ranking Member payne support, we want to get the sender look forward to working with you a long time to support amtrak. Thank you so much for coming here today. I now recognize mr. Kaine for five minutes. Thank you, mr. R. Chairman. I would like to thank the witnesses for being here today. This is a crucial hearing because many of my constituents and all newue jerseyans understd that Amtrak Service is critical to our economy and to our livelihood. It plays a Critical Role in connecting communities and driving Economic Growth in the northeast regionn and beyond. The outline of the neck in ec 2023 in place i constituents are enthusiastic about the hunter flyover the constructs of flyover south of penn station to eliminate at grade crossing to reduce conflict between trains come and to increase capacity nj transit and amtrak enabling nj transit to improve the red valley line service. That is why i introduced the one seat ride act to direct the secretary of transportation to conduct a a costbenefit anals of one seat ride trip versus other options repeat hours on new Jersey Transit red valley line. Im eager to move from our witnesses and gain insight into the challenges and opportunities facing our Passenger Rail system. I will remain ready, willing and able to make sure that amtrak is reliable and efficient mode for transportation for all and im supportive of all of the funding request. Mr. Gardner, its good to see you again, both of the state level as well now at the federal level. As you know the hunter flyover is extraordinarily important and its actually space reserved for. Can i get a commitment in public that space is reserved for that flyover to at pace so we can ensure the one seat rider is successful on the red valley line . Yes, congressman and appreciate your leadership of the state level new jersey advocating for strong northeastt quarter and now here in congress. We are supportive of this program. New Jersey Transit is taking the lead in working hard to seek funding in advance program and we are preserving the right away capabilities so that the flyover can be built. As you and i discussed it does create opportunity for one seat ride for the valley passengers and it ensures that we deconflict a crossing on the northeast quarter so it doesnt interfere with other new Jersey Transit and Amtrak Service at that junction. Thank you. One together things ive talked to youan about is both trenton d metropark, while neither arees n my district, the fact that i believe right now there is no service into trenton, new jersey state capital, at all. As well as stops at metropark. Can you please talk to me about how were going to have more opportunities in both trenton as well as metropark or not only access to our state capital but also the Innovation Centers and communities around metropark as well pghro yes congressman. And youre right that we have reduce some service at metropark in trenton and part primarily because there has been a reduction in ridership and the stations post pandemic and are working to rebuild ridership there. T we do know we need to add more service there as, as you know we are a little bit down in our capacity with her current train sets which are quite old. Were keeping that in service as we receive our new transit than able to expand the fleet we will build a ramp up Service Across the corridor and include more service there. We know support to metropark and trenton both, and we will be looking, and i will followup with you on our schedule for being able to reintroduce service there and we can change up lots of Regional Service at both stop. It seemsms to me if people kw there was predictable and Efficient Service at both of those tops more frequently, obviously more people would come and use those services as opposed to looking for alternate routes and things it at time inconvenience to commuters and families. And businesses alike. One of the other issues many people are to meeting north and south, it seems to be for the last 15, 20 years sole Service Always goes out in certain parts of the line. Can you talk to me about it should seem like an easy thing to fix over the course of a line and over the course of a decade and a half of service there. Can you walk me through why thats not happening . Thanks, congressman. So the Cellular Service along the route is really the responsibility of the various cell carriers. We have been working with the various carriers to give them the data so they can see the domain needs across the route. We have been, we are in active conversation with them. Weve had some carriers improve or increase capacity along the route in certain dead spots, and youre right there are still some remainder of that. We are partnering to increase capacity in the tunnels from another carrier but this is an area where we could use support. In some countries its a requirement cellular carriers provide adequate coverage for rail routes. We dont have that here and we would like speeds if i may also come from one . Akin gump mr. Chairman, with your support i also want to emphasize my strong support for the Gateway Program its the most efficient, effective for new jersey, new york. Its a time sensitive and important project and anything i can do to ensure that the project is completed on time and with full funding i am an ally. Thank you. The gentlemans time is expired. I now recognize mr. Desaulnier for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you both chairmen and Ranking Member for this hearing. And to both ofri you, as someone from the long, just took a long way away fromri the northeast quarter although im a native of massachusetts, your success is so important for the whole acountry. San Francisco Bay area where i been involved in transportation for a long time and sometimes we compete forco federal funds with you and california but we know how important it is that you are successful. So in that context, first i want to talk, mr. Gardner, about this investment is the largest investment since thest eisenhowr administration for transportation infrastructure. The Biden Administration has been very focused and ien i appreciate this as a member of this committee and is a Senior Member of the Education Labor Committee on expanding the middle class. We have the largest disparity between wealth and inequality in the history of this country right now at least competitive. This investment is a single do tot thing we can expand the middle class and give opportunity to poor people to move up. So you doing a good job, sorry to put more responsibility on, but given, its about compensation is extremely important. You mentioned siemens in sacramento. We had some challenges with siemens in california because their manufacturing product for the capitol corridor and amtrak on the west coast as well as here. They have a long history being very successful in procurement but also unfortunate history about pushing the limits. They were part of the largest settlement with the u. S. And the eu on foreign corruption charges, not that long ago. They are aggressive when it comes to global markets. They are being aggressive right tnow in california about the procurement requirements under the infrastructure bill to make sure theres a livable wage. Wonder if you could speak to that to make sure that we have people who are going to make money, and we value them competing for it, strictly adhere to the requirements in this law and starting in sacramento that middleclass americans and working americans benefit from this infrastructure, and we are very careful about adhering to the requirement for livable wage when they build this product. Thank you, congressman, for your remarks and for your support. As you say this is not just an investment in mobility. Its an investment in a new generation of workers, skills and a new workforce that we are really focus on creating that capacity to serve the needs of the nation and to serve the needs of our network. As you rightly say, this is a big increase in the available funding for amtrak and our other partners, state markers et cetera and we are all gearing up with a greater expertise to manage the dollars well. Part of that is managing our contracts well, being able to oversee those many, many private sector partners. And to be cleared the vast majority of the dollars spent are going to go from amtrak to a private sector partner, to a big construction from or to a manufacturer who are going to build or deliver great things for us. So a key aspect of our capacity is creating the expertise, the knowledge to be able to effectively manage our contractors come actually get good value out v of it. So i can assure you we are working very hard to pass on all the requirements that we received from the federal funding and the requirements and track ourselves have both in policy and involved, and make sure we get good followthrough and compliance from all of our entities. We will do that i can assure you we about to go into the market again. It will be the first time were purchasing since gia has been impacted or enacted excuse me for big fleet of longdistance equipment. This is can be the largest or thequ passenger equipment since the 1940s acquisition by the w york central. So its a huge opportunity and what kind of dorky really hard to make sure it gets good value. Im going to hold you to that specifically on the issue in california. We need you to make sure that that investment goes back to the people it was intended to come working americans, not to companies with questionable track records in terms of ethics and to the investors offshore. Mr. Warren, just the boards of connectivity. You have a lot of governing agencies that we know in successful countries like japan, the connectivity between Intercity Transit and intracity and computer, talked your challenges briefly about working with your partners along the corridor. Yeah, thank you, congressman for one of the reason we were created because of the complexity of the fact are so many different owners and operators on the quarter and the intercity ande the commuter service, a lot of tension, National Tension between priorities and track might have for Intercity Service and priorities commuter routes might have for commuter service. Its been an Important Forum to bring people together to work through those issues, to determine how to share costs. That we share about 1. 3 billion a year in operating and capital costs and revit formula that doesnt. A policy that does it and it saves amtrak from doing a lot of one off the glaciations with every tenant railroad and make sure all those railroads are on equal their footing when it comes to paying their shared costs for the use of the corridor. So its been very valuable, both in getting anybody on the same page when it comes to planning and paying for the quarter. Because theres just a lot of actual tension when you have the time of the gentleman has expired. I now recognize mr. Williams for five minutes. Thank you, mr. R. Chairman. You may have noticed we have had a recent discussion about spending in this country. Ok and looking at the numbers it looks like that amtrak relies on the credit card of the american taxpayers in order to stay in business, and that seems like increasingly and unviable path here the amtrak board awarded millions of dollars in performance bonuses to yourselves and others in fiscal year 2021. These bonuses were paid despite amtrak losing more than a billion dollars in fiscal year 2021, and is projected to lose 1 billion a year for the foreseeable future. Thats a lot of credit card debt. The head of the transportation workers unions even described these bonuses as an affront to amtrak workers. And further stated that every taxpayer should be livid. And based on the conversation that we had in the household last week, i i think taxpayers are livid, and the credit card days are coming to an end. You mentioned in your testimony to take seriously the use of public funds, and yet you continue to pay out what the New York Post calls a gravy train of performance bonuses. Mr. Gardner, have you ever worked in the private sector . Yes, sir. In what capacity, please, and what timeframe . So as a railroader i worked for for a variety of functions, trackman, brakeman, train dispatcher. When was that . This was inn late 90s and prior to that i had a number of retail jobs, other things throughout my history. In the last 25 years, and i suspect before that, there is a strong correlation in the privatee sector between actual Financial Performance and bonuses paid to the people responsible for that Financial Performance. I find it unacceptable that your organization is paying out these lavish bonuses even in the face and to the criticism of your own workforce. Many of the members have m poind out that the operating losses, Customer Satisfaction, Overall Service is not doing so well, and i live in the northeast corridor. I actually like traveling on amtrak but i do find that this is unsustainable. Going forward, do you think executivesiv in companies that operate at a severe loss and declining Customer Satisfaction should or would typically receive bonuses in our economy . Congressman, so first off, the incentive program, again encouraged by congress and all the entities that provided as guidance here, the gao, the oig, are triggered toe improve it. So were improving Financial Performance. Were improving Customer Service scores and approving amtrak control delays. Thats how we achieve benefits. And, in fact, just again our losses are coming down compared to the number you quoted. We worked over a decade to achieve a breakeven result consulting the company had never been able to do for 50 years of my and my colleagues worked hard to do this and we did that in part because we use incentives to line the workforce and achieve improved Financial Performance which is what is in companies do all over america. In fact, our peer group of railroads absolutely. I think it has been working to get better performance. Our Customer Satisfaction numbers are actually quite good compared to prepandemic, and we are achieving better Financial Results of this year than plant, in part because we are using tools to keep us all a light at the make sure we have a high quality talent available. Again, professional railroads, we are 21,000 men that were similar size of many of the Freight Railroads, several of the Freight Railroads, and same basic number of employees. E we are competing against him for tauzin. We need to be able to provide reasonable compensation and incentives. We cant give stock option. Sounds like a really attractive job because as i understand by your criteria that so long as you tried, you received your bonuses. And going back to my original question about working in the private sector, talking about ten years of efforts to achieve breakeven, and the mentioning the 50 years of lost before that, i can assure you as a, having been in the private sector, that thats not how all nurses are paid. Thats not other workers are measured. And just trying is not enough. The credit card is coming to an end. Thank you for your time. I yield back. Mr. Williams heels. I now recognize mr. Carson for five minutes. Thank you, chairman. I represent beech grove indiana which is one of the most important rail maintenance facilities in the country now unfortunate that have been some efforts to downsize or even outsource the work at beech grove which has caused some concern amongst hoosiers. I think are going to improve our supply chain in real service we have to expand opportunities for talentedl workers and experience rail maintenance personnel to q build up the quality of service and safety. You think its important to strengthen our railyards and maintenance facilities . If so, what does this look like . Thank you, congressman carson. I know beech grove is an important facility to you and its important to amtrak. Its a vital have for the maintenance of much ofit a longdistance fleet and locomotive fleet. So it is a critical location and amtrak, one of the really great things thats come as a result of the iijain investments that e have the dollars to invest in stated good repair needs and some of our major facilities and we are of course and lots of hiring in the mechanical shops. So building of the workforce in beech grove is something we have been doing. Those lots of work sha underwayd its a critical facility for amtrak. Similarly, facilities and other parts of the country are also going to receive investment and are having more workers there because weve got to get all our equipment back in shape and keep it maintained. Secondly, im a big supporter of amtraks National Network, especially the cardinal linear which connects northeastern cities like new york to midwestern cities like indianapolis and chicago. And, unfortunately, with the loss of the Hoosier State line, we lost Daily Service from indianapolis to chicago which was critically important. These important connections i think you need to be restored to Daily Service and make more consistent and reliably on schedule. Mr. Gardner, is amtrak and your leadership committed to strengthening longdistance service of theg national netwo, and are you committed to improving the cardinal linesin reliability and restoring Daily Service from shy town to nap can . Thank you for the question, congressman. I just wrote the Cardinal Three weeks ago. It was a greatat trip and we do believe there is an opportunity for two things come one is potentially providing Daily Service on the cardinal between the northeast by a West Virginia and ohio and indiana and also to work with the state on opportunities for Porter Service between indianapolis and chicago and, of course, service potential to the east, to cincinnati et cetera. Those are going to be decisions are driven by the states. I mentioned a couple of times today the growth of this network is going to be a decision that state partners make together with the u. S. Dot and fra funding. Similarly longdistance as netware operate under her behalf. As a network that congress and administration essentially set for us and set fort us in the iija. And as part of the iija the fra has been charged with undertaking a study to look at expansions and improvements and restorations to the longdistance network. This is a great process that the fra is leading. Amtrak is involved in will be providing information and input. So the work weve apply for funding to look at Daily Service on the cardinal and also Daily Service on the Sunset Limited which goes between new orleans via houston all the way to los angeles, and that would allow us to do some preparatory work and then the fra will ultimately decide what thefu future of the longdistance network could be and recommend oddly to congress what those changes would need to be. We really operate the service again on your behalf, and so its the fras role to look at those options and congress to consider the. Thank you. I yield back, chairman. The gentle the genti will recognize mr. Molinaro for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Gardner, could you tell me how much the average amtrak ticket is subsidized . Well, it depends on the route but in, for instance, on the northeast corridor theres about a net operating surplus of about ten dollars per passenger. On state supported, its a subsidy of about 16 per passenger. And on longdistance its about 148 per passenger. And so i just want to offer, in 2019 on a per passenger mile, its 35. 6 cents. 6 cents. 35. 6 cents subsidized. Im not familiar with many of those freight industries, freight rails equally subsidized by taxpayers. But mr. Gardner, im going to quote acl New York Times artie that mr. Chairman, id like to use it for the record and seek unanimous consent to enter into the record. Without objection. So the New York Times reported in august that Stephen J Gardner and amtrak executive can the chief executive issue received more than 766,000 shortterm incentive bonuses from 20162021. More than any other executive. The companies general counsel received 727,000 over that time, and the court. We have court. We have been discussing the bonuses d received during the string. What id like to know because you talk about metrics and incentivizing, what id like to know is what metrics you are measured against tost consisteny receive the bonuses that amtrak subsidized by taxpayers is giving consistent with failure to turn a profit . What is the New York Times wrong . Well, firstst off, just to answer the question consisted to go the program of course is an consistent. We have received bonuses any of the years im speaking about 20162021. In 2021 during the height of covid when thousands of families were either unemployed or sadly lost lives, like mine, why would come what metric would you use to determine a 200,000 bonus is sufficiently acceptable for an industry subsidized by taxpayers . In 2020 we suspended our Bonus Program. Executives like myself took a 22 pay cut for the entire year. So your answer is, i have five minutes pick your answer is in 2021 since you took him sacrifice in 2020, 121, 200,000 is sufficient . No. The basis for the 2021 award was our Financial Performance which beat our anticipated levels are working hard to do that lowest ridership, lowest point of amtraks ridership, massive folks left sitting on the sidelines while many of the employees were working damn hard. Hard. I want to turn because pat toomey frames i next line of questioning. And 2022 amtraks 2222 ada progress report, amtrak has fully managed to address its responsibility only 90 of the 307 stations were responsible for of the mentation. As you in 1990 the americans for disabilities act was established and established a 20 timeframe for intercity rail station to before assessable for those with disabilities amtrak is appropriate to hundred 35 million for upgrades. And yet in the northeast quarter i can tell you my own experience in Dutchess County in your amtrak should be ashamed of its lack of ada compliance. In Hudson New York northeast quarter amtrak should be ashamed of its consistent failure to be ada compliant if you think this doesnt frustrate folks like us, it does. What is amtrak able to make today to fully fulfill the ada requirement adopted in 1990, knowing that at the very least neuroses quarter in my part of the country we have now two generation have been let with individuals in wheelchairs try trying to find the way over active tracks . Congressman, i share your passion for compliance with the ada. But not the outcomes. We have been working hard and we have achieved significantly more progress than youve noted. There are 100 and fully compliant stations and 69 additional compliant stations with exception of platform work. Much ofad the work that has been done today was by lack of funding. That is now solved with the iija which provides 1. 2 billion for us to bring all of the facilities where responsible for the roughly 380 you mention into compliance. We will do that if the last project will be in 2020. We arere working hard to achieve really good results. We will have 39 additional projects f completed by the endf this fiscal year. So we are on path to address this. One of the main issues is also the various ownership of the stations. We only very small percentage of the station and we have to speedy my time is up. Thank you i just would say i was quoting from your ig report and would be, i like to see the same commitment to achieve the ada compliance as you suggested. Mr. Molinaro yields and i recognize mr. Cohen for fiber. Thank you, mr. Chair. Mr. Gardner, on the big subordination of amtrak and Passenger Rail Service Throughout this country and, of course, i also have an interest in my area, memphis which has new orleans, chicago, city of new orleans but also wants to expand to little rock and or nashville. Can you give me an assessment of where those possible expansions come service out of memphis stand at the present time . Thank you, congressman, and thanks for your support of leadership on Passenger Rail issues. I know that the state has submitted a quarter identification application to the federal Rail Administration for service from memphis east to nashville on to chattanooga and to atlanta. Thats a very interesting quarter, one that holds a lot of promise. The process now will be for the fra to consider those applications for the Quarter Development program and to make their selections and then i will provide some initial seed funding to build ton begin the planning work. So thats a great step and one that we have supported. Could the state do more or his estate doing whats necessary . I think this is the first critical step is to get in the program to make this a mission and to express their interest. Once the fra has made the decisions then there will be a process to further study and work with Host Railroads and work with operators like ourselves to plan at the surface, but this was a critical step that was necessary by the state. That route could be very important because fordd is opening a major plant about 40 or 50 miles out of memphis. So rail getting people to and from that the subtlety, and also further into middle tennessee would be important. But the memphis to National Areas not served by air transportation, commercial air. There would bepp and divert a great amount of support in memphis and nashville of people in memphis want to go to nashville, the state capital, all kinds of reasons. People and nashville have even more reasons to leave and come to memphis. So theres this great synergy of energy there that wouldhe be important. I urge you topopo look at that carefully. Also littlell rock, as governorf arkansas, the state ofy arkanss done anything to get that memphis to little rockro route o go on to dallas . I think there are a lot of opportunities. I was on the city of new orleans several months ago and had a chance to see the great station in memphis and all the development happening there. Basically late at night they met the demand, some in little rock. I was recently on the the ts eagle at 3 15 a. M. 30, 40 passengers lining up to take the train. Wi if we could sure those markets during the day with Reliable Service to connect these cities we think theres room opportunity for rail to play a big role. Is arkansas do anything to help that . Im not sure that that corridor has been submitted for the quarter id program but the good news is that safe rolling process. It would be more opportunities for states to put forward other opportunities of interest for i presume youve heard about it in newspapers rant a section on Summer Travel this past weekend in memphis at least and one of the highlights was rail. It said rail was a great way to go and talk about all the routes but there were two criticisms. One was joyce had to wait come to get used to it and the other was dining. You know ive been concerned about the Dining Experience which i experience as a child i think part of the romance of train travel. What is going be done with the amtrak food and Beverage Working Group report on improving dining, making them more available and come which enhances the consumers enjoyment of amtrak experience . Thanks for the question. We worked hard to restore traditional dining and had Great Western traits. We bring traditional diet back to her Silver Service in the east and we are looking at come as a and we got the food and beverage recommendations here recently. We are working on going through those. Amtrak was a part of that but its a big group of folks from a culinary world, to our labour partys him to go to give us aan recommendation about how to prove the service. We would back to congress with our take on that report and the different efforts that are underway but were committed to improving theex experience and also making as we done in certain instances, making the dining car available to coach passengers when we have capacity. Thank you for i look for too traveling on one of those longer trains between chicago and los angeles or frisco. They give the opportunity see the country and a joy. Last question i dont harp on this at all but did Richard Anderson start the Bonus Program or was it before him . Say it again please. Richard anderson did he start the idea of bonuses at amtrak . No, it can actually under ceo joe boardman and again it was a response to the Passenger Rail Investment Agreement act of 2,008,008 which includes the amtrak about a program that was performancebased because race on thed long history of amtrak, epic compensation has been come was deferred compensation from a form of pension to this took away that and actually save taxpayers hundreds of millions, a billion dollars a future exposure and traded that for performancebased compensation. So that amtrak employees would be tiedou to the goals and metrs that we set. That as an engine has not been something that simply is awarded. Its earned and oftentimes the company has notno achieved its goals. Thank you very much. I yield back the balance of my time and a look for to my ham and eggs in carolina. I now recognize mr. Lamalfa for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Gardner, first, i want to harken back to when were talking about the bonuses and i will leave it be but its just not a good look when things are going so badly for the country going to covid era that even though maybe the expectations of the rail were a little better than lowball, you know, hopes that that shouldnt kick in big bonuses like that. Its about as popular as Congress Getting pay raises forg Something Like that. That all said. It says here ridership has returned to precovid levels, but how can that be when ridership in fiscal year 2022 were seen as about 85 overall, the final six months, and overall for the year was 68 . How do we say were at precovid levels when you can receive its twothirds of that . Congressman, thanks for the question. As of april we were at 89 f our prepandemic demand, and that essentially is on roughly 85 of our capacity so we dont have ashe many trains in the marketplace and we dont have as long come so we have sort of more demand against available capacity than we did in prepandemic. We are working hard to restore that capacity. We will have essentially be back to capacity levels in 24. Thats why were confident we can get to the 32 million riders with prior. I never like 100 in 24 . We anticipate to be back in 24. We are about 28. 5 billion as our expectation for 23 and 32 million for 24. Got to keep for 24. Got to keep moving, sorry. Has that been evenly distributed along the longdistance routes or state routes for l the northwest quarter . Or to get different performances . Different performs e with some routes exceeded theav prepandemic levels. Some routes that are less i would say thehe rows that are having less ridership of those routes that are more subject to the impact of work from home and were more subject to daily commute. Probably the most important one against be northeast quarter. Whats it northeast quarter is doing well. Were basically back to when you look at last week of april we were at 1 1 below riders fe same week in 2019. The plant began on a northeast corridor and a longdistance trains published on demand and number of them particularly for sweeping class product. Sorry i have three committees at same time signing of the benefit of hearing the whole committee today. Have a reference here to what was knownwn as the train ride fm hell and january this year from virginia to florida. Normally 17 hour ride in virginia to florida and an additional 20 hours i guess there was a derailment i understand, its a problem a time, but several delays make it a really terrible right for the passengers, so the problem i have with it is that people are not allowed to have the options to getar off the train and move around, or maybe just jump off if someone comes to pick them up with a get an alternate. Of course they seem to run out of food during the time on the train. As in just a lack of knowledge of whats going ons some people come to exercise options. Iowhats being done, you do that with airlines sometimes with not leaving the gate. So whats being done to give passengers a little more respect for options on letting them get off the drawing. Translator need to use to stretch, youno know . Is their ability to reverse to the previous most train station or an appropriate very even a good crossing people could get off and come what you think about that . So youre right that this is a very difficult trip. We certainly apologized and refunded all our customers. This was drivenn by a grade crossing accident between Freight Train and the vehicle that essentially blocked the row. Our drink of this is a special train, the out of train, a trend where of a number of cars that are carrying passengers and a number of auto racks that are carrying vehicles. Its an unusual trend. Train. We had departed thee terminal ad because the configuration length of string it was not possible to reverse it or to turn it anywhere in route. Cf. Ex gave us information the best information they had at the time which was to reroute this train but it turned out that routing took much, i much longer than csx had expected or required to produce additional crew to help us navigate the portion of the route we dont normally use. Our goal is to let folks get off the station come get off at stations of course and always if you promise to come to stop at a station and to let folks go. In this case upon was separate and people from their cars because if we got them off they couldnt get their cars because the cars would still be stuck and had to get into the final station get it was difficult. We didro provide food and watero the trip if there were times later when passengers could get off but itt was in the middle of the night. It was an unfortunate experience. Were spending a lot of time and effort a very tough deal, i get yu on that. I guess infu the future you goto get people opportunities to in other situations, i was even involved when we went on a trip. You got to get people options to be able to lease get up and move around and get Better Service that way. My time flew by. Ik, yield back. Thank you. I now recognize mr. Carter for five minutes. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, they much. Mr. Gardner, for the people of louisiana open patient in waiting for rail between new orleans, baton rouge and mobile, heres your shot. Give them a shot in the arm of confidence that this is actually going to happen. Thank you, mr. Carter, and we are very confident about bringing service to the gulf coast and we have reached a settlement with our partners, and our hope is to commence by the end of the year. We will see. You could be pushed onto longer dependent on somect construction work happening in mobile, the station therere come some other things but we are working hard. Their strong support from the states and the south in real commission as as you know and we really just at this point got to get all the elements in place. Amtrak is committed, has been long committed to the service and to be a partner to the Southern Rail Commission. As it relates to baton rouge, we support certainly louisiana and Southern Rail Commission efforts there and have a Strong Partnership with Canadian Pacific, k pkc come to provide to permit us to operate trains over that route. Theres going to be some investment required particularly to do with the spillway there to be able to facilitate the service a good plan both ourselves and bp are soon to be in receipt of the preliminary Engineering Work for the report. Thats necessary for us to look at those opportunities, but we see that service that could happen in several years, and mobile to new orleans, that should be like within the year. Fantastic. Thank you very much behind howard you guys work on it by want to emphasize how important it is for the people of new orleans, for the region and its something that is been long awaited and were very excited about the movement. In the gold Coast Working Group of 272 report to congress they wrote, in the more than ten years since Hurricane Katrina struck gold coast leaders and residents have made Great Strides in rebuilding businesses, communities and infrastructure that connects cities across the region. In the last five years more than 3 billion in private funds were invested in industrial, medical, i. T. And aerospace sectors. As mentioned earlierrt in this report, during the next 30 years the gold coast and florida populations are expected to increase by 10 million to 13. 8 million respectively. For the region to harness this projected population growth that needs a multimodal Transportation System and provide transportation as alternatives. Deeply thisve route serves as a multimodal Transportation System that was called for five years ago . I think its the beginning of that service, absolutely. Theres going to be the initial Corridor Service and then certainly opportunities to strengthen connectivity between the intercity Passenger Rail service and local transit, as report says its critical we create a network of operations that can support people traveling without their cars. But we think this initial service is a great start. We are excited for it and i think theres a lot of support amongst did you see thisee being usel for commuters as well as vacationers . Absolutely. We see it as a Strong International visitor component in new orleans that will find rail service i think attractive. And then we see a lot of opportunity along the gulf coast there for many of the towns that have things to offer visitors, and t for workers who need to travel between the various cities for jobs. We find her cells and now in hurricane season. Share with me your view on it being able to be utilized as a mode of transportation for disasters and evacuations. Well, weve had some experience with this in the past and i think the difficulty typically with using passenger train for evacuation, unless advance, is that the Host Railroads, the Freight Railroads often curtailed their own operation and defense of a hurricane. So inefficient and the down the railroad we cant operate over it. Having said that, certainly we endeavor to work with the mic and work with the state Emergency Management folks about creating opportunities for service when there is a need. But its difficult we dont control the railroad. A few seconds later i want to go back to chrissy cranston were mentioned. Share with us and the public the Public Benefit of your having access to receive grants. Its really a unique program and that its available to a broad set ofqu eligible participants to cover a variety of rail improvements. Most of the grants weve ever been involved with our at the request of states or railroads who seek to gain safety investment or other improvements in their properties speedy go back. Safety, safety one of the most significant things we can do with transportation going through communities is making sure the communities are safe, is that correct . Absolutely. Yielded back. I now recognize mr. Mann for five minutes. Thank you, chairman. I represent the district of kansas which is 60 primarily Rural Counties in western central and a few on eastern part ofte the state of kansas. Transportation infrastructure is very important to us. Thesp southwest chief route runs through the state of kansas where 53 of residents live within 25 miles of a Passenger Rail station and 75 within 50 miles. Rail which amtrak utilizes for Passenger Rail service. Mr. Gardner, the southwest chief route runs through my district and makes several stop, each night and early morning. I want to confirm that you as c. E. O. Are supportive of Passenger Rail sir, we are, were supportive of the chief and we are looking to hopefully connect the chief with the leadership of the two states of oklahoma and kansas, potentially to the heartland flyer and newton. Ive heard that amtrak is planning on reducing the sleeper car capacity of the route. And that seems contradictory. Is this true and can you provide an explanation. No, ill get back to you on the specific details. Our goal is to put as much sleeper capacity as we can to the Strong Demand. The western routes have particularly Strong Demand and the issue is weve been working through some of the overhauls that are in come due and need to get done by our mechanical shop and the impacts of a number of equipment pieces that weve lost in recent incidents. So, we have a smaller fleet today because of, we have roughly 30 or so wrecked vehicles that cant be repaired, and were working hard to get more capacity back out into all of our Long Distance routes. Because we see success occurring on routes like the chief. Thank you, as you know, our country faced significant supply chain issues over the year and freight line and short rail have been some of the Major Industries that have been affected and they own the track that amtrak uses. What assertions can you give our freight and railroads as amtrak looks to expand that they will be a good negotiating partner in the future of Passenger Rail service . Well, its absolutely required that we be good partner. We try and find productive, mutually beneficial outcomes to both support the service that we have today and achieve the kind of results that i think you expect in terms of on time performance and to permit growth where it is appropriate and that, again, is a calculus that is developed by us, our state partners, the fra, et cetera, but then we seek to negotiate and come up with a collaborative solution and generally, weve been supportive of that. Id point to our agreements with Canadian Pacific weve got a great relationship there and thats going to be always our goal is to find a mutually beneficial solution, but also, one that respects the rights that the public was given and that amtrak was given through its creation to utilize the nations rail system, but we dont do that in a way and we dont believe that significantly negatively impacts Freight Railroads and theres a safeguard method essentially that ensures that our Additional Service does not come at the expense of the ability to move goods and services in the United States. I think thats incredibly important. Thank you, mr. Chairman. With that ill yield back. Thank you, the gentleman yields and now recognizes mr. Stanton for five minutes. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Thank you for the opportunity to join the subcommittee for todays hearing on a topic of great interest to the people of my state in arizona. I wanted to be here because phoenix is the largest city in the United States without access to Passenger Rail service, as other communities have gained access to Passenger Rail, theyve experienced significant new opportunities, but arizona thus far has missed out. Im hopeful that will change and theres reason for optimism. Amtrak applied for funds under the bipartisan infrastructure law to resore via the Sunset Limited and arizona has submitted a proposal to the federal Railroad Administrations corridor i. D. Program to advance frequent and reliable Passenger Rail service between our two large and fast growing metropolitan areas, phoenix and tucson. Arizonians have wanted passenger Train Service between phoenix and tucson for decades, so its no surprise that this has significant local and state support, the mayors of phoenix and tucson and other communities along the proposed lines are on board and state of arizona is behind it providing three and a half million in state funds for the planning effort. What does this all mean for arizona . It means opportunity. Opportunity to connect our communities, make them more accessible and productive and more internationally competitive. An opportunity to boost our regional economies with better access to jobs and more private investment along the route. Opportunity to ease congestion along interstate 10 to help reduce air pollution. Mr. Gardner, if amtrak is successful in its application for federal funds through the bipartisan infrastructure law to restore Long Distance Train Service to phoenix, how specifically will these resources be invested and how will these investments help advance and accelerate the development of the tucson, phoenix, passenger city rail line. Thank you very much for the question, and i just have the pleasure of seeing the mayor of phoenix and mesa and its a remarkable corridor and local support and bipartisan support for bringing service back there. As we mentioned arizona d. O. T. Will be the lead. Theyve submitted corridor identification applications to consider service between phoenix and tucson and what were also trying to be to start is the work to connect phoenix to the west, back to the u. P. Main line, the pacific sunset route. That portion was severed. Today our Sunset Limited goes to maricopa, south of phoenix so it misses the mark. As you said phoenixs growth has been huge and its really a, frankly, an embarrassment that we dont serve such a major and prominent city and i would say that about many other cities, nashville, columbus, et cetera, cities that are obviously. Right size so we think that the market in arizona is great for Passenger Rail and we are partnering with the state to support that and we are looking to jumped undertake potentially the initial work to restore the service back from phoenix west and ride our Long Distance train that way. Its time and you said that phoenix is the fifth most populous in the United States of america and it does not have access to intercity rail service. And i talked about the opportunities that will come with new Passenger Rail between tucson and phoenix. Could you talk about some of the benefits amtrak has seen in other communities that get new intercity rail service and what ridership has looked like . Well, were really excited for this new service, of course, on the gulf coast coming. I would say that in general, we see very strong adoption, when we introduce new service. Everywhere i go across america, communities small and big, the comment i get, how come we dont have more trains, faster trains and more service in my community. And literally never met anyone who wasnt interested in more trains to their locations and when we see new service introduced we get really an initial period, of course, of introduction, but weve seen very strong results. We just extended the service, to the burlington vermont up from rutland which is a Long Time Coming and weve already exceeded our expectations there in terms of the ramp up of the service and we anticipate, again, where we can produce reliable, frequent and competitive option that passengers will come and that the state will see real value for investment. I think this is clear because the states continue to maintain the service year after year after year. Once its installed it becomes an integral part of the community and they elect to continue their investments to preserve the service. Thank you very much. My time is up, i yield back. Thank you. Thank you, the gentleman yields and gentlemen, i appreciate your engaging and sharing your thoughts and insight into amtrak. We have a couple of members that would like to go into a second round of questioning. So i would like to yield five more minutes. Thank you again, mr. Chairman, i appreciate the second round here. Mr. Warren, i wanted to ask you about on your northeast corridor there, do you find at this point that your passengers are utilizing all or most of the tickets for either the conventional or the acela high speed line . How is that performing . Our passengers are utilizing the amtrak region. How are ticket sales for the high speed line basically . Are they selling out or theyve struggled some because theyve had a shortage of trains and theyve been replacing them. The regional trains are are the high speed acela trains selling out . I might turn to stephen for that. The trains ive taken have been busy partly because there have been fewer of them and also more Leisure Travels on travelers on the acela trains to make up for some of the loss of business travelers. Overall, the ridership, as stephen mentioned before on the corridor, very strong. Particularly amtrak. Im trying to parallel this with the prospects of a high speed rail in california. Of course, its going to be four times more the cost that was sold to the voters back 10, 12 years ago, whatever it was, and so i wanted to see the performance of, you know, a dense route so ill ask it again. Do you believe acela, the high speed trains in and of themselves are they performing well on tickets, on sales, or are they half full . How does it look . Yeah, well, before covid they were making a significant profit on operating profit and that was largely driven by the acela trains and the sales made for tickets on the acela trains. I believe the profits were in the neighborhood of 3, 400 million a year on the operating side on the northeast quarter, precovid. Since covid, theyve been down and asell la has been successful and driven operating profits on the quarter. Thank you. Mr. Gardner, what do you anticipate the amtraks relationship will be with california with the high speed rail line, whatever portion that may be completed of that . Right now its going to start in hammond orchard and bakersfield and madeira, the first segments and more giant segments after that. What do you think amtraks role is going to be with that . Well, congressman, thanks for the question. I think that first off, the state and the authority and our partners, jpa, as well as, will decide how the service is going to progress. My understanding is that there will be a connection between the San Joaquin Service to the new high speed service. Well see if amtrak is the operator there. Partner with the provider of service so its really the state and the authority who are going to decide how the service operates, but you will connect wherever we can with our Long Distance service, of course, to create opportunities for riders to connect to the service. Okay, thank you. The when were talking in general about expansion of service or lines or, you know, are we talking about building new tracks somewhere for amtrak . Most often not. So most of the expansion opportunities that we see and that many folks have applied for through this Development Program are to take existing rail lines and upgrade them or use them if theyre already at the right class of track. And for the mas part, might be adding more parallel tracks or breaking ground on new routes . There will be where new tracks are nests and right of ways have more tracks and were downsized by the Freight Railroads. In some cases need for additional track or new routes, but much of the proposed expansion of services on existing rail lines. Okay. How do you expect that im not trying to be a mean guy here on this, i like Passenger Rail and i enjoy it on the time i get to run up and down the corridor here, but its got to be in the ballpark of breaking even or profitable and how does adding more about the situation thats not profitable for breaking even take the bottom line to not take that into a deeper spiral. Well, congressman, i would say that most of the, really all of the states who decide to get into this business of supporting Passenger Rail do so for broader mobility goals, the same way that Public Transit operates. Public transit comes with significant investments that are required and provides ability that enables more Economic Activity and enables the development in cities and towns. So, i think thats the rational in which they add up cost of aviation to what the carriers have, i think in the way see a net profit, similarly on the highway system. Its a means to create value in these transportations systems and so states elect to start the service or fund the service they have because they get value for citizens in doing so. I get that. Im going to have to yield the time here, but thank you, it sounds like the bottom line, indeed. It will add more negative costs that the federal government will have to cover if, you know, since there doesnt seem to be the profits. Thank you for your indulgence. He yields. I now recognize Ranking Member payne for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And weve heard a lot about amtrak not turning a profit today. Last month we heard from the very profitable Freight Railroads and from their customers about their ongoing supply chain challenges and how the freight rail customers are still not getting adequate service. Mr. Gardner, what would happen to Amtrak Service if you adopted a singleminded focus on profitability . Congressman, i think essentially none of the nam network trains that are Long Distance would still be operation. They all require significant investments and the state supported routes are by and large funded by the states. Theres a little bit of federal investment there and under the new development, amtrak has core security and insurance counts, but those would be at risk if the states continue not to fund them. The northeast corridor, to just go to the earlier conversation, prepandemic was creating 500 or 550 Million Dollar in operating surplus, but relies on a significant investment in capital to bring it up to federal repair. Federal funding has been refired for this network and always have been and likely will be. Our goal is to get as much for the taxpayers out of it and run you as our owners tell us what you want for the nation. This is similar for every Passenger Rail operator around the world and we take our stewardship responsibilities seriously and were trying to always balance that connection between sort of quality of service and level of service with expense, and of course, we still have to live every year with the dollars that are provided to us in the annual appropriation. So the so the railroad entities around the world have the same challenges as amtrak does . They do except they receive significantly more funding typically than amtrak does. Thank you. Thats what i wanted to hear. Mr. Warren, how would passengers along the northeast corridor react to these changes to services . Turn on your mic. Improvements through the infrastructure bill are going to have significant benefits to service. More frequent service and Reliable Service and Faster Service. Were expecting to track new passengers over the course of 15 years to this plan as were able to build the service and build new capacity. In the nec35 plan, we estimated about 60 million new riders over 15 years. So our expectation is, as you know, ridership in the northeast corridor is strong and its going to get stronger as we can improve the reliability of the trains and improve the frequency. Thank you. Mr. Gardner, now that the funding is at least taken care of for the immediate future, what are some of the major obstacles to enhancing and developing rail service . Thank you representative payne. There are on the northeast corridor and broadly, several challenges. First of course is work force, weve talked about the need to ramp up the work force and train the work force and thats a big challenge and were working hard on that. And the supply chain, finding adequate vendors and suppliers with domestic, and amtrak, 97 of our purchases are with firms here in the United States and getting the robust supply we need for not only things like growing stock, but steel, copper, et cetera, to build all these new big programs is going to be a challenge and dealing with inflationary costs there. The coordination amongst the operators, and let me just sort of thank mitch warren here who has been an incredible leader in the commission as it came to the commission and really in its inception and works hard to bring all of the entities together to come up with a common plan. We have a common plan, but its not easy to execute. We have 12 Different Railway operators and over four owners and trying to get balanced and construction work against service is a real challenge. In order to rebuild the railroad, we have to take it out of service, and the interstate highways, we sit in traffic and that problem faces us on the corridor as well. We need to rebuild the railroad in operations against construction. And the partnerships, amtrak is investment in northeast corridor products and not the only investment. Like the gaitway, the minority investor. We need the states to come up with their matches and partners, to be able to partner with us on shared benefit projects. Thank you. You know, i appreciate both of you gentlemen staying here and, well, chairman, as i look both sides of the aisle, it looks like its just you and me. I guess so. With that, im yield back. Thank you, Ranking Member yields. Are there any other questions from any other members on members of the subcommittee. I see none. This concludes our hearing today and id like to thank each of our witnesses for their testimony. I ask that todays hearing remain open until such time witnesses provide any answers may be submitted in writing. Without objection, so ordered and the consent for the record to remain open for 15 days for members and witnesses to be included in the record of todays hearing. Without objection, so ordered. The subcommittee stands adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, cspan has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress, from the house and senate floors, to congressional hearings, party briefings and committee meetings. Cspan gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no