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ORAL STATEMENT OF 

SARAH E. FEINBERG 

ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

BEFORE THE

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC ASSETS 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HEARING ON

”LAGGING BEHIND: THE STATE OF HIGH-SPEED RAIL IN THE U.S.”

July 14, 2016

Chairman Mica, Ranking Member Duckworth, and Members of the 

Subcommittee:

Thank you for inviting me to discuss the current state of high-speed and 

intercity passenger rail in the United States.

Nearly eight years ago, Congress rightfully recognized that for our 

country to have a strong and modern transportation system, we must 

begin to move beyond our dependence on motor vehicles and aviation –

we must have more reliable, frequent and faster passenger rail service.

To achieve this goal, Congress passed two landmark pieces of 

legislation. The first was the Passenger Rail Investment and 

Improvement Act of 2008, signed by President George W. Bush. PRIIA 

established the foundation, and the programs, for FRA’s High-Speed and 

Intercity Passenger Rail Program. 

The second piece of legislation was the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009, which provided the seed money to begin 

building this stronger passenger rail system – while also jump-starting 

the country’s economic recovery from the Great Recession. 
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In 2009, FRA began working to achieve a long-term, 25-year goal to 

connect 80 percent of the country’s population to reliable, frequent and 

faster passenger rail service. The program had two parts: 

1. To improve existing rail lines in order to increase capacity, speed and 

frequency of current passenger rail service; and 

2. To develop new corridors to serve new markets with world class rail 

service – the likes of which already exist in many other countries.

The program was national in scope, but state-based in execution, similar 

to how the federal government built the Interstate Highway System more 

than a half-century ago. States were very much in the lead on requesting 

service, and planning projects. They were given the ability to seek 

funding for projects that best reflected the needs and characteristics of 

their individual markets.

FRA eventually received nearly 500 applications requesting more than 

$75 billion worth of projects – far exceeding the $10.1 billion available. 

These applications proposed a wide variety of service improvements, 

including increased reliability, frequency of service and speed.

After careful and thorough review of the applications, FRA awarded 

funding to support nearly 150 projects in 35 states and the District of 

Columbia. 

Nearly 85 percent of these investments are concentrated in six key 

corridors, and those corridors serve 65 percent of the country’s 

population. 

Today, thousands of corridor miles of track are being constructed or 

upgraded, new passenger locomotives are being manufactured and more 

than 30 passenger stations are being upgraded. Rider experience is 

improving, due to increased reliability, new capacity, reductions in 

travel times. 
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Mr. Chairman, I know you have great interest in the Northeast Corridor. 

Let me assure you and this subcommittee: FRA is committed to this vital 

corridor. From the Recovery Act alone, FRA awarded nearly $1 billion 

for improvements. 

Of course, that does not include the more than $3 billion that was 

initially awarded to the state of New Jersey to construct a new tunnel 

under the Hudson River – as you know that project, which would have 

addressed a critical infrastructure need at a critical time, was ultimately 

rejected. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Amtrak, as well as 

the states of New York and New Jersey, are now working to address this 

infrastructure threat again – with the lost years having cost us millions, if 

not billions. 

More than half of the 150 projects the administration funded are 

complete. Another quarter are scheduled to be complete by the end of 

2016. 

Like all major and ambitious transportation projects, whether public or 

private and no matter the mode, there have been, and remain, important 

challenges that demand continued attention and conscientious oversight.

With a frequency at which few other federal grant programs have been 

reviewed, the Government Accountability Office and the Department of 

Transportation Office of Inspector General have exhaustively audited 

FRA’s implementation of the Recovery Act and appropriations for 

passenger rail grants 14 times. The program is arguably now the most 

deeply investigated and audited program in the Department’s history. In 

no case did the auditors identify waste, fraud, or abuse in any of the 

grants.

Mr. Chairman, improving the speed, efficiency, and reliability of 

America’s railroads is critical to moving our transportation system into 

the 21st century. However, our most important task is ensuring 
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America’s railroads are safe, which is why many of the investments we 

made as part of our program have also focused on safety. 

We have invested in eliminating grade crossings, because the safest 

crossing is one where trains and motor vehicles will never cross paths. 

We have invested in bridge upgrades and repairs, track improvements, 

and Positive Train Control. 

These investments are critically important because any increase we 

make to safety in one area of our rail system typically benefits the entire 

network because, in the United States, our freight and passenger rail 

networks are largely one-in-the-same – they frequently share track with 

each other.

Mr. Chairman, while I am on the issue of safety, I know that you are 

particularly interested in addressing our grant programs today, but I 

cannot address this subcommittee today without addressing safety as an 

overall issue. 

On Friday, June 3rd, Union Pacific derailed a crude train in Mosier, 

Oregon. Fortunately no one was injured, but the resulting fire burning 

for more than 14 hours. FRA has recently announced that the cause of 

the incident was UP’s failure to maintain their track in the area. 

On Tuesday, June 28th, two BNSF trains collided in Panhandle, Texas, 

killing three crew members and injuring one. The injured crew 

member’s life was saved when he leapt off a moving locomotive just 

prior to the head-on collision. 

And just earlier this week, two passenger trains in Italy collided, killing 

more than 20 people and injuring more than 50. 

Mr. Chairman, the FRA continues to do all that we can to improve safety 

– but we cannot do this alone. 
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Railroads and shippers must move to safer, stronger hazmat tank cars as 

soon as possible. 

Railroads must implement Positive Train Control as soon as possible, 

and not wait until the 2020 deadline the Congress has most recently 

given them. 

Railroads must upgrade their Civil-War era braking systems, so braking 

is more efficient, and in the event of a derailment, fewer cars leave the 

tracks, leading to a decreased risk of fire and injury.

And this Congress must do more as well – with increased funding for 

commuter railroads struggling to afford PTC, and additional funding for 

more safety inspectors

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, and all members of the subcommittee, 

thank you again for inviting me here today. While we have wisely 

invested $10 billion in high performance rail, this country continues to 

fall behind in making the needed investments in our passenger rail 

system. In 2015 alone, China invested $126 billion on high-speed rail 

projects1

. 

There remains demand from communities and leaders across the 

country, and the Administration has made repeated budget requests for 

additional funding to meet these needs. 

Our country’s 21st century economy simply cannot thrive on a 20th 

century transportation system. 

We need a strong transportation system, and the investments Congress 

made eight years ago to begin upgrading our passenger rail system to be 

 1 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-01/04/content_22926538.htm.
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more reliable, frequent, and faster is only the beginning and must 

continue.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I look forward to the committee’s 

questions.