By ashleykaren
Amtrak, US public rail service, has revealed plans to triple its annual investment in its infrastructure from US$2 billion in 2023 to over US$6 billion by 2025.
Laura Mason, Amtrak executive vice president of capital delivery, spoke at Engineering New Record’s second annual NY/NJ Infrastructure Forum in Manhattan and declared that she is doubling the size of her department to handle the rising amount of project design and delivery to come.
The rail operator received US$66 billion under the 2021 federal infrastructure law, the most considerable investment it has acquired since its founding (over 50 years ago).
Amtrak receives a mixture of state and federal subsidies but is managed as a for-profit organization. It published details of a survey it had commissioned lately, indicating that 86% of 1,000 respondents support an ‘American passenger rail system’ and other rail investment.
Moreover, the survey asked for registered voters’ views on the significance of a public rail network and specifics around state and federal funding. Almost 90% of voters expressed a passenger rail system was at least “somewhat” important, with 31% stating it is “extremely important”. Just 9% claimed such a service was “not important.”
Previously, Amtrak has declared that it will invest more than US$50 billion into modern trains, improved stations and facilities, new tunnels and bridges, and other vital infrastructure advancements.
