WASHINGTON —U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee and a vocal proponent of boosting infrastructure investment along the Northeast Corridor, on Wednesday led the efforts to fund two important rail infrastructure and safety programs in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget. In a letter to U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, Murphy called for at least $500 million for the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program to reduce the repair backlog along the Northeast Corridor. The Trump administration proposed eliminating this critical program and Murphy pressed U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao on the proposed cuts in a recent U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and other Related Agencies committee hearing.

“Amtrak and commuter railroads on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) transport 800,000 people daily, and the workforce that travels on the NEC contributes roughly $50 billion to the economy. However, the specter of the state of good repair backlog causing delays or track closures is a constant concern,” wrote the senators. “Given this impact on the regional and national economy, restoring the NEC and other rail networks to a state of good repair must be one of our top priorities.” 

Murphy was joined by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). Full text of this letter is available here.

Murphy also led the request to Chairman Collins and Ranking Member Reed calling for $111.4 million for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Currently, the critical safety investigative team is managing 21 active rail investigations with only 12 railroad investigators—four of whom are now eligible for retirement.

“A series of tragic rail accidents in our region have highlighted NTSB’s critical role in transportation safety, but without critical resources, the NTSB’s mission could be significantly impaired…We cannot allow the Board’s vital safety mission to be undermined by budgets that reduce its ability to respond to accidents,” wrote the senators.

Murphy was joined by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in this request. Full text of this letter is available here.

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