MIPRC begins planning effort for infrastructure round of COVID-19 stimulus

The efforts of MIPRC and other passenger rail advocates to support Amtrak’s request for $1 billion in emergency funding for this fiscal year – including money to offset state losses – paid off late last month when Congress passed, and President Trump signed, the latest COVID-19 relief/stimulus bill.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security – or CARES Act – gave Amtrak $1.018 billion in grants including $526 million for the National Network and $492 million for the Northeast Corridor; a further $239 million was appropriated for state-supported corridors.

The bill also included $25 billion in mass transit grants to support local transit agencies.

Richard Anderson, Amtrak’s outgoing president and CEO, in an April 1 letter thanked MIPRC for its advocacy efforts.

MIPRC is now looking to ensure Congress includes funding for passenger rail development in any infrastructure-related COVID relief bill it takes up or passes in the coming days and weeks, focusing on the $2.6 billion in passenger rail-related projects Midwestern states had in the pipeline as of last fall. MIPRC is working with the States for Passenger Rail Coalition, which is in the midst of updating that list with state departments of transportation.