I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1437
To authorize appropriations for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 6, 1995
Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself and Mr. MINETA) (both by request) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure
A BILL
To authorize appropriations for the National Railroad
Passenger Corporation, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Amtrak Restructuring
Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) intercity rail passenger service is an essen-
tial component of the integrated national transpor-
tation system, and the National Railroad Passenger
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Corporation (Amtrak) must provide a quality trans-
portation product in the form of clean, comfortable,
and on-time service to achieve its full potential;
(2) Amtrak has been forced to significantly cut
back its basic system due to cash shortages, and fur-
ther cutback may be required unless Amtrak is able
to reduce its costs and increase its revenues;
(3) to ensure Amtrak’s long-term viability as a
provider of intercity rail passenger service, contribu-
tions from all of Amtrak’s stakeholders are needed
to reduce Amtrak’s costs and increase its revenues;
(4) Amtrak’s management and employees are
dedicated to providing the high-quality service that
Amtrak’s customers deserve but additional capital
investment is needed to acquire the modern equip-
ment and efficient facilities that are essential to sat-
isfy the demand for superior intercity rail passenger
service, and additional management flexibility is
needed to allow Amtrak to adjust quickly to meet
demand and changing customer needs;
(5) adequate levels of capital investment from
the Federal Government and State governments and
innovative partnerships with the private sector will
enable Amtrak to provide the world class service
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American rail passengers deserve and will help re-
duce operating costs in the long term;
(6) Amtrak’s management should be held ac-
countable to ensure that all capital investment by
the Federal Government and State governments is
used effectively to improve the quality of service and
the long-term financial health of Amtrak;
(7) the Secretary of Transportation, as an ex
officio member of Amtrak’s Board of Directors,
should use this position to evaluate Amtrak’s costs
and revenue elements to ensure that Amtrak pro-
vides excellent service to its customers and that Am-
trak uses its Federal investment wisely and effi-
ciently;
(8) States, local governments, and private par-
ties can and should play an increasingly significant
role in supporting cost-efficient intercity rail pas-
senger transportation and in addressing local trans-
portation needs and air quality control;
(9) mandatory payments reflecting funds paid
into the railroad retirement and railroad unemploy-
ment systems on Amtrak’s behalf in excess of the
funds needed to pay retirement and unemployment
benefits for Amtrak’s employees and their bene-
ficiaries shall not be considered a Federal operating
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subsidy of Amtrak but rather a subsidy of the rail-
road retirement and railroad unemployment systems
as a whole; and
(10) Federal financial assistance to cover oper-
ating losses incurred by Amtrak should be reduced
gradually between the years 1996 and 2001.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS, PURPOSE, AND GOALS.
Section 24101 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by revising subsection (a)(6) to read as
follows:
‘‘(6) Amtrak should be available to operate
commuter rail passenger transportation under con-
tract with commuter authorities to the extent Am-
trak is fully reimbursed for the costs incurred in op-
erating such services, including a reasonable return
on Amtrak’s investment of time and resources.’’;
(2) by replacing the period at the end of sub-
section (c) with ‘‘, and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end of subsection (c) the
following:
‘‘(12) manage capital investment in such a way
as to provide customers with world class service.’’.
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SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
Section 24102 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by repealing paragraphs (2), (3) and (11);
and
(2) by renumbering the remaining paragraphs
as appropriate.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) AUTHORIZATIONS.—Section 24104 of title 49,
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 24104. Authorization of appropriations
‘‘(a) OPERATING EXPENSES.—There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary to make grants to Am-
trak $300,000,000 for fiscal year 1996 and $200,000,000
for fiscal year 1997, to be used for operating expenses.
‘‘(b) CAPITAL INVESTMENT.—There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary to make grants to Am-
trak $230,000,000 for fiscal year 1996 and $230,000,000
for fiscal year 1997, to be used for capital investment ex-
penditures.
‘‘(c) INTERCITY RAIL PASSENGER STATION.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to make
grants to Amtrak $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 and
$50,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, to be used for engineer-
ing, design, and construction activities to enable the
James A. Farley Post Office in New York, New York, to
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be used as a train station and commercial center and for
necessary improvements and redevelopment of the existing
Pennsylvania Station and associated service building in
New York, New York. The Secretary is authorized to re-
tain from these funds such amounts as the Secretary shall
deem appropriate to undertake the environmental and his-
toric preservation analyses associated with the project.
‘‘(d) TRANSITION COSTS.—There are authorized to
be appropriated to the Secretary to make grants to Am-
trak $100,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, to be used for
transition costs associated with a long-term restructuring
of the Corporation.
‘‘(e) NORTHEAST CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENT PRO-
GRAM.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary to make grants to Amtrak $235,000,000 for fis-
cal year 1996, and $200,000,000 for fiscal year 1997, to
be used for capital expenditures under section 24909 of
this title.
‘‘(f) MANDATORY PAYMENTS.—(1) Not more than
$120,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30,
1996, and not more than $120,000,000 for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 1997, may be appropriated to the
Secretary to pay—
‘‘(A) tax liabilities under section 3221 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 due in such fiscal
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years in excess of amounts needed to fund benefits
for individuals who retire from Amtrak and for their
beneficiaries; and
‘‘(B) obligations of Amtrak under section 8(a)
of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45
U.S.C. 358(a)) due in such fiscal years in excess of
its obligations calculated on an experience-rated
basis.
‘‘(2) Amounts appropriated under this subsection
shall not be considered a United States Government sub-
sidy of Amtrak but rather a subsidy of the railroad retire-
ment system as a whole.
‘‘(3) Notwithstanding the payment by the Secretary
of certain of Amtrak’s obligations under the Internal Rev-
enue Code and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act
under subsection (f)(1) above, Amtrak remains responsible
for meeting its financial obligations under applicable law
over and above the amounts paid by the Secretary to the
Internal Revenue Service and Railroad Retirement Board
on Amtrak’s behalf.
‘‘(g) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Amounts
appropriated under this section remain available until ex-
pended.
‘‘(h) LIMITATIONS ON USE.—Amounts appropriated
under this section may not be used to subsidize operating
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losses of commuter rail passenger or rail freight transpor-
tation.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 24304(d)
of title 49, United States Code, is amended by deleting
‘‘24104(d)’’ and by inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘24104’’.
SEC. 6. EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF COLLECTIVE BARGAIN-
ING ON CONTRACTING ACTIVITIES.
Section 24312(b) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(3) This subsection does not bar Amtrak and
a union representing Amtrak employees from nego-
tiating a collective bargaining agreement that per-
mits Amtrak greater flexibility in contracting out
work than permitted under paragraph (1). Para-
graph (1) shall not apply to any bargaining unit cov-
ered by a contract containing provisions that are in-
consistent with paragraph (1).’’.
SEC. 7. REPORTS AND AUDITS.
Section 24315 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(1) redesignating subpara-
graphs (D), (E), (F), (G), and (H) as subpara-
graphs (E), (F), (G), (H), and (I), and by inserting
after paragraph (C) the following:
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‘‘(D) the long-term profit or loss;’’; and
(2) in subsection (b) by redesignating para-
graph (2) as (3), and by inserting after paragraph
(1) the following:
‘‘(2) Amtrak shall include in the report required
under paragraph (1) projections of the anticipated
benefits of the projects proposed for funding under
part C of subtitle V of title 49, United States Code,
and a report on the benefits actually realized from
all projects previously funded under part C begin-
ning with funds provided in fiscal year 1995. The
report shall include an identification of improve-
ments in the quality of service offered by Amtrak,
facility improvements that demonstrate a productiv-
ity gain, equipment improvements that lower operat-
ing costs, environmental benefits (including air qual-
ity and land use benefits), enhancements to local
transportation needs, enhancements to mobility of
physically and economically disadvantaged persons,
any improvement of the revenue-to-cost ratio, any
reduced dependence on Federal operating support,
and reductions in the need for alternative transpor-
tation investments. To the extent practicable, the
benefits addressed in each report shall also be ex-
pressed as return on invested capital.’’.
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SEC. 
8. 
MISCELLANEOUS 
REPEALS 
AND 
TECHNICAL
AMENDMENTS IN CHAPTER 243.
(a) 
TECHNICAL
AMENDMENT.—Section
24302(a)(1)(D) of title 49, United States Code, is amend-
ed to read as follows:
‘‘(D) Two individuals selected by the Presi-
dent from a list of five names submitted by
commuter authorities providing service over rail
properties owned by Amtrak.’’.
(b) AUTHORITY.—Section 24305(c) of title 49,
United States Code, is amended—
(1) by deleting the word ‘‘and’’ at the end of
paragraph (5);
(2) by adding a new paragraph (6) as follows:
‘‘(6) consult and cooperate, to the extent fea-
sible, on request of eligible applicants proposing a
technology demonstration authorized and financed
under a law of the United States, with those appli-
cants; and’’; and
(3) by renumbering existing paragraph (6) as
paragraph (7).
(c) LABOR STANDARDS.—Section 24312(a) of title
49, United States Code, is amended by deleting ‘‘,
24701(a) or 24704(b)(2)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘or
24701(a)’’.
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(d) REPEALS.—Sections 24310 and 24314 of title
49, United States Code, are repealed.
(e) CONFORMING.—The remaining sections of chap-
ter 243 of title 49, United States Code, are renumbered
appropriately.
SEC. 9. ELIMINATION OF AMTRAK COMMUTER SERVICE
CORPORATION.
Chapter 245 of title 49, United States Code, and the
corresponding item in the analysis of subtitle V is repealed
except that section 24501(g) is transferred to section
24301 as new subsection (o) at the end thereof.
SEC. 10. OPERATION OF INTERCITY RAIL PASSENGER
SERVICE.
Chapter 247 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by revising the heading of section 24701 to
read as follows:
‘‘§ 24701. Operation of intercity rail passenger serv-
ice’’;
(2) by amending section 24701(a) to read as
follows:
‘‘(a) BY AMTRAK.—Amtrak is authorized to provide
cost-effective intercity rail passenger service on those
routes throughout the United States where it can serve
an important transportation function and it can, over the
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long term, cover the full operating costs associated with
providing the service either through fares or contributions
from State and local governments or other interested par-
ties. Amtrak’s decisions regarding the initiation, retention,
modification or elimination of intercity rail passenger serv-
ice shall be made on the basis of available financial re-
sources and any agreement Amtrak enters into with a
State or local government or private entity to support rail
passenger service should be made with the understanding
that Federal funding for operating expenses will decrease
over the fiscal years 1996 through 2001.’’; and
(3) by amending section 24702 to read as
follows:
‘‘§ 24702. Route and Service Changes
‘‘Amtrak shall adjust its route structure as it deems
appropriate applying sound business and transportation
principles. Prior to implementing a route discontinuance
that would remove all service on a route or cut service
by more than half, Amtrak shall provide affected States,
cities and other interested parties with advance notice of
at least ninety days in order to enable any of the affected
parties to provide financial support for the route that
would allow for continued operation. In an emergency,
Amtrak may implement a route discontinuance with less
than ninety days notice but shall in any event provide as
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much notice as possible. An emergency shall exist when
the Secretary of Transportation determines, on the basis
of information and data supplied by Amtrak, that funds
available to Amtrak for the fiscal year are not sufficient
to meet estimated operating costs and significant harm to
the Corporation would result if immediate action is not
taken to reduce costs through route reductions and service
eliminations.’’.
SEC. 11. EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF COLLECTIVE BARGAIN-
ING 
ON 
LABOR 
PROTECTIVE 
ARRANGE-
MENTS.
Section 24706 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended:
(1) by revising the heading of section 24706 to
read as follows:
‘‘§ 24706. Employee Protective Arrangements’’;
(2) by repealing subsections (a) and (b);
(3) by deleting ‘‘(c) EMPLOYEE PROTECTIVE
ARRANGEMENTS.—’’ in subsection (c); and
(4) by deleting paragraph (6) and by inserting
in lieu thereof the following new paragraphs (6) and
(7):
‘‘(6) For purposes of this section, employees of
Amtrak refers to employees occupying positions sub-
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ject to collective bargaining under the Railway
Labor Act, (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).
‘‘(7) Notwithstanding the other provisions of
this section and the implementing protective ar-
rangement established for Amtrak employees (Ap-
pendix C–2 to Basic Agreement between Amtrak
and the freight railroads), Amtrak and unions rep-
resenting Amtrak employees may negotiate new em-
ployee protective arrangements for Amtrak employ-
ees that differ from the requirements of other por-
tions of this section and from the terms of Appendix
C–2. If a new protective arrangement is negotiated,
provisions of this section and the terms of Appendix
C–2 that are inconsistent with the new protective ar-
rangement shall cease to apply to the bargaining
unit covered by the new protective arrangement.’’.
SEC. 12. MISCELLANEOUS REPEALS IN CHAPTER 247.
(a) REPEALS.—Sections 24703, 24704, 24705,
24707, and 24708 of title 49, United States Code, are
repealed.
(b) CONFORMING.—The remaining sections of chap-
ter 247 of title 49, United States Code, are renumbered
appropriately.
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SEC. 13. BOSTON–NEW HAVEN ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT.
(a) ELECTRIFICATION SYSTEM.—Section 24902(f) of
title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Improvements
under’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(2) Amtrak shall design and construct an elec-
trification system between Boston, Massachusetts,
and New Haven, Connecticut. The electrification
system shall be designed and constructed to accom-
modate the installation of a third mainline track be-
tween Davisville and Central Falls, Rhode Island, to
be used for double-stack freight service to and from
the Port of Davisville. Wherever practicable, Amtrak
shall use portal structures and realign existing
tracks on undergrade and overgrade bridges to mini-
mize the width of the right-of-way required to add
the third track. Amtrak shall take such other steps
as may be required to coordinate and facilitate de-
sign and construction work.’’.
(b) AMTRAK REPORT.—Amtrak shall, not later than
six months after the date of enactment of this Act, trans-
mit to the Congress a report detailing its electrification
design between Davisville and Central Falls, Rhode Island,
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and describing efforts to comply with section 24902(f)(2)
of title 49, United States Code.
SEC. 14. COMPENSATION FOR TRANSPORTATION OVER THE
NORTHEAST CORRIDOR.
(a) COMPENSATION
FOR TRANSPORTATION OVER
CERTAIN RIGHTS
OF WAY
AND FACILITIES.—Section
24904(c)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by adding after the words ‘‘rail freight
transportation’’ in the first sentence ‘‘or between
intercity rail passenger and commuter rail passenger
transportation’’;
(2) by adding after the words ‘‘rail freight car-
rier’’ in the second sentence ‘‘or a commuter author-
ity’’; and
(3) by adding at the end of the second sentence
‘‘or commuter authority.’’.
(b) NORTHEAST CORRIDOR COST DISPUTE.—Section
1163 of the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981 (45 U.S.C.
1111) is repealed.
SEC. 15. NORTHEAST CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENT PROJECT.
Section 24909 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by revising subsection (a) to read as follows:
‘‘(a) CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.—Amtrak shall make
capital improvements for the Northeast Corridor improve-