Murphy, Blumenthal Fire Back at Boehner Over Amtrak Spending
Murphy, Blumenthal Fire Back at Boehner Over Amtrak Spending
Connecticut's U.S. senators didn't hold back with their comments when it came to Amtrak spending approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.
"No matter what Speaker Boehner says, a cut for Amtrak jeopardizes lives," said Sen. Chris Murphy.
When asked about whether increased funding for infrastructure and technology upgrades for Amtrak would have prevented Tuesday's fatal crash in Philadelphia, Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, responded by calling the question "stupid" and added that he saw a different reason for the crash.
"Obviously, it's not about funding. The train was going twice the speed limit. Adequate funds were there. No money's been cut from rail safety and the House passed a bill earlier this spring to reauthorize Amtrak and authorizes a lot of these programs, and it's hard for me to imagine that people take the bait on some of the nonsense that gets spewed around here," Boehner said.
Murphy and Blumenthal criticized a $250 million cut for Amtrak from Congress. They argue that the train line could see vast improvements with investments just north of $100 million, which they say is a paltry sum when one considers that the line is responsible for billions in commerce.
"Saving billions of dollars is worth the money we would spend to invest," said Blumenthal. "The approach of the United States has been to patch and pray."
On the issue of positive train control technology, which uses satellites, track sensors and remotes inside the engine of the train, both senators said the technology is vital for saving lives.
Amtrak tracks from New York to New Haven do not currently have PTC, but the technology will be installed by the end of the year. The stretch from New Haven to Boston does have PTC installed and the new stretch of commuter railroad from Springfield to Hartford and New Haven, which is set to be ready by 2016, will also have PTC installed.
Blumenthal sides with NTSB investigators in that he believes that, had PTC been installed and more money been devoted to the line, the derailment in Philadelphia could have been avoided.
"This tragedy never would have happened and eight people would be alive today had positive train control been in place on that section of the Amtrak route," Blumenthal said.