State not included in a previous plan under this 
chapter, and a plan for funding any recommended 
development of such corridors in the State. 
‘‘(12) A statement that the State is in compli-
ance with the requirements of section 22102. 
‘‘(b) LONG-RANGE SERVICE AND INVESTMENT PRO-
GRAM.— 
‘‘(1) PROGRAM
CONTENT.—A long-range rail 
investment program included in a State rail plan 
under subsection (a)(5) shall include the following 
matters: 
‘‘(A) A list of any rail capital projects ex-
pected to be undertaken or supported in whole 
or in part by the State. 
‘‘(B) A detailed funding plan for those 
projects. 
‘‘(2) PROJECT LIST CONTENT.—The list of rail 
capital projects shall contain— 
‘‘(A) a description of the anticipated public 
and private benefits of each such project; and 
‘‘(B) a statement of the correlation be-
tween— 
‘‘(i) public funding contributions for 
the projects; and 
‘‘(ii) the public benefits. 
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‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROJECT LIST.—In 
preparing the list of freight and intercity passenger 
rail capital projects, a State rail transportation au-
thority should take into consideration the following 
matters: 
‘‘(A) Contributions made by non-Federal 
and non-State sources through user fees, 
matching funds, or other private capital involve-
ment. 
‘‘(B) Rail capacity and congestion effects. 
‘‘(C) Effects on highway, aviation, and 
maritime capacity, congestion, or safety. 
‘‘(D) Regional balance. 
‘‘(E) Environmental impact. 
‘‘(F) Economic and employment impacts. 
‘‘(G) Projected ridership and other service 
measures for passenger rail projects. 
‘‘§ 22506. Review 
‘‘The Secretary shall prescribe procedures for States 
to submit State rail plans for review under this chapter, 
including standardized format and data requirements. 
State rail plans completed before the date of enactment 
of this chapter that substantially meet the requirements 
of this chapter, as determined by the Secretary, shall be 
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deemed by the Secretary to have met the requirements of 
this chapter.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) The table of 
chapters for title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting the following after the item relating to chapter 
223: 
‘‘225. State rail plans and high priority projects ..................22501’’. 
(2) The chapter analysis for subtitle V of such title 
is amended by inserting the following after the item relat-
ing to chapter 223: 
‘‘225. State rail plans and high priority projects ..................22501’’. 
SEC. 6. NEXT GENERATION CORRIDOR TRAIN EQUIPMENT 
POOL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, Amtrak shall establish a Next 
Generation Corridor Equipment Pool Committee, com-
prised of representatives of Amtrak, the Federal Railroad 
Administration, and interested States. The purpose of the 
Committee shall be to design, develop specifications for, 
and procure standardized next-generation corridor equip-
ment. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—The Committee may— 
(1) determine the number of different types of 
equipment required, taking into account variations 
in operational needs and corridor infrastructure; 
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(2) establish a pool of equipment to be used on 
corridor routes funded by participating States; and 
(3) subject to agreements between Amtrak and 
States, utilize services provided by Amtrak to design, 
maintain, and remanufacture equipment. 
(c) 
COOPERATIVE
AGREEMENTS.—Amtrak 
and 
States participating in the Committee may enter into 
agreements for the funding, procurement, remanufacture, 
ownership, and management of corridor equipment, in-
cluding equipment currently owned or leased by Amtrak 
and next-generation corridor equipment acquired as a re-
sult of the Committee’s actions, and may establish a cor-
poration, which may be owned or jointly-owned by Am-
trak, participating States or other entities, to perform 
these functions. 
(d) FUNDING.—Capital projects to carry out the pur-
poses of this section shall be eligible for grants made pur-
suant to chapter 244 of title 49, United States Code. 
SEC. 7. FEDERAL RAIL POLICY. 
Section 103 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL.—’’ before ‘‘The 
Federal’’ in subsection (a); 
(2) by striking the second and third sentences 
of subsection (a); 
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(3) by inserting ‘‘ADMINISTRATOR.—’’ before 
‘‘The head’’ in subsection (b); 
(4) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and 
(e) as subsections (d), (e), and (f), respectively; 
(5) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(c) SAFETY.—To carry out all railroad safety laws 
of the United States, the Administration is divided on a 
geographical basis into at least 8 safety offices. The Sec-
retary of Transportation is responsible for all acts taken 
under those laws and for ensuring that the laws are uni-
formly administered and enforced among the safety of-
fices.’’; 
(6) by inserting ‘‘POWERS AND DUTIES.—’’ be-
fore ‘‘The Administrator’’ in subsection (d), as re-
designated; 
(7) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 
paragraph (1) of subsection (d), as redesignated; 
(8) by redesignating paragraph (2) of sub-
section (d), as redesignated, as paragraph (3) and 
inserting after paragraph (1) the following: 
‘‘(2) the duties and powers related to railroad 
policy and development under subsection (e); and’’; 
(9) by inserting ‘‘TRANSFERS OF DUTY.—’’ be-
fore ‘‘A duty’’ in subsection (e), as redesignated; 
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(10) 
by 
inserting 
‘‘CONTRACTS, 
GRANTS, 
LEASES, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND SIMILAR 
TRANSACTIONS.—’’ before ‘‘Subject’’ in subsection 
(f), as redesignated; 
(11) by striking the last sentence in subsection 
(f), as redesignated; and 
(12) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL
DUTIES
OF
THE
ADMINIS-
TRATOR.—The Administrator shall— 
‘‘(1) provide assistance to States in developing 
State rail plans prepared under chapter 225 and re-
view all State rail plans submitted under that chap-
ter; 
‘‘(2) develop a long range national rail plan 
that is consistent with approved State rail plans on 
high-speed rail, its status, potential funding opportu-
nities, and source, and future activities, and the rail 
needs of the Nation, as determined by the Secretary 
in order to promote an integrated, cohesive, efficient, 
and optimized national rail system for the movement 
of goods and people; 
‘‘(3) develop a preliminary national rail plan 
within a year after the date of enactment of this 
subsection; 
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‘‘(4) develop and enhance partnerships with the 
freight and passenger railroad industry, States, and 
the public concerning rail development; 
‘‘(5) support rail intermodal development and 
high-speed rail development, including high-speed 
rail planning, and develop options and strategies for 
Federal funds and participation in the financing of 
high-speed rail partnerships with States and the pri-
vate sector, identifying Federal funding sources, pos-
sible levels of Federal funding, and legal and institu-
tional barriers to these partnerships with the Fed-
eral Government; 
‘‘(6) ensure that programs and initiatives devel-
oped under this section benefit the public and work 
toward achieving regional and national transpor-
tation goals; and 
‘‘(7) facilitate and coordinate efforts to assist 
freight and passenger rail carriers, transit agencies 
and authorities, municipalities, and States in pas-
senger-freight service integration on shared rights- 
of-way by providing neutral assistance at the joint 
request of affected rail service providers and infra-
structure owners relating to operations and capacity 
analysis, capital requirements, operating costs, and 
other research and planning related to corridors 
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shared by passenger or commuter rail service and 
freight rail operations. 
‘‘(h) PERFORMANCE GOALS AND REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) PERFORMANCE
GOALS.—In conjunction 
with the objectives established and activities under-
taken under subsection (g), the Administrator shall 
develop a schedule for achieving specific, measurable 
performance goals, including specific performance 
measures and timetables for establishing high-speed 
rail operations in the United States. 
‘‘(2) RESOURCE NEEDS.—The strategy and an-
nual plans shall include estimates of the funds and 
staff resources needed to accomplish each goal and 
the additional duties required under subsection (g). 
‘‘(3) SUBMISSION
WITH
PRESIDENT’S
BUDG-
ET.—Beginning with fiscal year 2009, and each fis-
cal year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress, at the same time as the President’s budg-
et submission, the Administration’s performance 
goals and schedule developed under paragraph (1), 
including an assessment of the progress of the Ad-
ministration 
toward 
achieving 
its 
performance 
goals.’’. 
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SEC. 8. RAIL COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND CONTENT.—Chapter 249 
of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘§ 24910. Rail cooperative research program 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
and carry out a rail cooperative research program. The 
program shall— 
‘‘(1) address, among other matters, intercity 
rail passenger and freight rail services, including ex-
isting rail passenger and freight technologies and 
speeds, incrementally enhanced rail systems and in-
frastructure, and new high-speed wheel-on-rail sys-
tems and rail security; 
‘‘(2) address ways to expand the transportation 
of international trade traffic by rail, enhance the ef-
ficiency of intermodal interchange at ports and other 
intermodal terminals, and increase capacity and 
availability of rail service for seasonal freight needs; 
‘‘(3) consider research on the interconnected-
ness of commuter rail, passenger rail, freight rail, 
high-speed rail, and other rail networks; and 
‘‘(4) give consideration to regional concerns re-
garding rail passenger and freight transportation, 
including meeting research needs common to des-
ignated high-speed corridors, long-distance rail serv-
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ices, and regional intercity rail corridors, projects, 
and entities. 
‘‘(b) CONTENT.—The program to be carried out 
under this section shall include research designed— 
‘‘(1) to identify the unique aspects and at-
tributes of rail passenger and freight service; 
‘‘(2) to develop more accurate models for evalu-
ating the impact of rail passenger and freight serv-
ice, including the effects on highway and airport and 
airway congestion, environmental quality, and energy 
consumption; 
‘‘(3) to develop a better understanding of modal 
choice as it affects rail passenger and freight trans-
portation, including development of better models to 
predict utilization; 
‘‘(4) to recommend priorities for technology 
demonstration and development; 
‘‘(5) to meet additional priorities as determined 
by the advisory board established under subsection 
(c), including any recommendations made by the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences; 
‘‘(6) to explore improvements in management, 
financing, and institutional structures; 
‘‘(7) to address rail capacity constraints that 
affect passenger and freight rail service through a 
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wide variety of options, ranging from operating im-
provements to dedicated new infrastructure, taking 
into account the impact of such options on oper-
ations; 
‘‘(8) to improve maintenance, operations, cus-
tomer service, or other aspects of intercity rail pas-
senger and freight service; 
‘‘(9) to recommend objective methodologies for 
determining intercity passenger rail routes and serv-
ices, including the establishment of new routes, the 
elimination of existing routes, and the contraction or 
expansion of services or frequencies over such 
routes; 
‘‘(10) to review the impact of equipment and 
operational safety standards on the further develop-
ment of high-speed passenger rail operations con-
nected to or integrated with nonhigh-speed freight or 
passenger rail operations; 
‘‘(11) to recommend any legislative or regu-
latory changes necessary to foster further develop-
ment and implementation of high-speed passenger 
rail operations while ensuring the safety of such op-
erations that are connected to or integrated with 
nonhigh-speed freight or passenger rail operations; 
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‘‘(12) to recommend ways to integrate com-
muter, passenger, and high-speed rail Federal fund-
ing and plans to allow for the maximum efficiency 
and coordination of Federal funds used for these rail 
purposes, and identify legal and institutional bar-
riers to such integration and coordination and the 
potential costs or cost savings from such an integra-
tion; 
‘‘(13) to analyze the environmental benefits and 
carbon reductions in the air from the electrification 
of commuter and passenger rail, and from the devel-
opment of high-speed rail, in noncompliant air qual-
ity locations and corridors as compared to current 
and alternative fuels for current services, and com-
pare high-speed rail carbon reductions to other com-
peting modes in short-haul markets; and 
‘‘(14) analyze the impact of high speed rail on 
transportation capacity in congested corridors in 
comparison to the impact of investing in highway or 
airport expansion, for example in the Los Angeles, 
California, to San Francisco, California, corridor, 
building upon the May 2007 Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration study indicating that there were no air 
side capacity improvements to this and other air cor-
ridors. 
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‘‘(c) ADVISORY BOARD.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In consultation with 
the heads of appropriate Federal departments and 
agencies, the Secretary shall establish an advisory 
board to recommend research, technology, and tech-
nology transfer activities related to rail passenger 
and freight transportation. 
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The advisory board shall 
include— 
‘‘(A) representatives of State transpor-
tation agencies; 
‘‘(B) transportation and environmental 
economists, scientists, and engineers; and 
‘‘(C) representatives of Amtrak, the Alaska 
Railroad, freight railroads, transit operating 
agencies, intercity rail passenger agencies, rail-
way labor organizations, and environmental or-
ganizations. 
‘‘(d) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—The Sec-
retary may make grants to, and enter into cooperative 
agreements with, the National Academy of Sciences to 
carry out such activities relating to the research, tech-
nology, and technology transfer activities described in sub-
section (b) as the Secretary deems appropriate.’’. 
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 
for chapter 249 of title 49, United States Code, is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘24910. Rail cooperative research program.’’. 
Æ 
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