Date: 2009-05-05
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Madam Speaker. I rise in support of this resolution. and I yield myself such time as I may consume. National Train Day celebrates the 140th anniversary of the golden spike. which was driven into the final tie in Utah. and marked the completion of our Nations first transcontinental railroad in 1869. Last year. I celebrated National Train Day by holding events throughout my district. including press conferences and events in Jacksonville. Winter Park. and the Sanford Auto Train station. We had a great turnout at all of the events. and. I heard firsthand from people who use Amtrak every day to go to work and visit friends and families all over the country. This year. I will be holding an event on Friday at my hometown station in Jacksonville. and I am planning a trip to New York in the very near future and hope other Members will join me. But we should celebrate Train Day every day. and I encourage Members to do events at their train stations throughout the year. As Chair of the Subcommittee on Railroads. Pipelines. and Hazardous Materials. I have had the privilege to see firsthand passenger rail systems in other countries. I took the highspeed train from Brussels to Paris--200 miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes. from Barcelona to Madrid350 miles in 2.5 hours. The advantage for travelers and the business community and others is tremendous. We need to catch up with the world. and with gas prices continuing to increase steadily. now is the perfect time for us to make serious our investment in -passenger rail. Amtrak ridership and revenue have never been stronger. In 2008. Amtrak set a record. for ridership. exceeding 28.7 million passengers. In the. same year. ticket revenues increased by 14.2 percent. for more than $1.7 billion. For my State of Florida. Amtrak expenditures for goods and services were over $40 million last year. and we currently have over 700 Floridians as employees. More than just a convenient way to travel. Amtrak is the most energy efficient. Rail travel is more efficient than cars or. airplanes. According. to U.S. Department of Energy data. Amtrak is 17 percent more efficient than domestic airline travel and 21 percent more efficient than auto travel. Passenger rail also reduces global warming. The average passenger train produces 60 percent lower carbon emissions than cars. and 50 percent less than airplanes. I travel all over the country and have conducted many transportation roundtable events that feature rail and its importance. Let me tell you that people love Amtrak and they love the train. It .is a great way to commute to work. take cars off congested highways. and improve the environment. In many areas of the country. it is the. only mode of public transportation. Let me repeat that: in many areas of the country. Amtrak is the only mode of public transportation available. We still have a lot of work ahead of us with Amtrak. but we took a major step forward last year when we passed legislation reauthorizing Amtrak at a level that would allow it to grow and prosper. and earlier this year when we provided $1.7 billion in stimulus funding for Amtrak. and $8 billion for development of a highspeed rail corridor. Major infrastructure improvements are still necessary to improve the safety and security of the system and its passengers and workers. Amtrak has and will continue to play a critical role in evacuating and transporting citizens during national emergencies. Unfortunately. it also is a prime target for those who wish to harm us. and we must provide resources to make the system less vulnerable. Fifty years ago. President Eisenhower created the National Highway System that changedthe way we travel in this country. Today. we need to do the same with our rail system. and with the Amtrak reauthorization and real funding for highspeed rail. we are doing that. The United States used to have a firstclass passenger rail system. However. after years of neglect. we are now the cabooseand they doit use cabooses anymore. The American people deserve better. and I believe our governments new commitment to Amtrak will go a long way to restore passenger rail service. .1 encourage my colleagues to show their support for our Nations rail system and its employees by holding events at their local commuter train stations anytime during the year. I reserve the balance of my time.