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WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC), a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, commended the House’s unanimous passage of compromise House/Senate legislation that will launch a historic high-speed rail initiative and enhance safety on our nation’s rail lines. Following the passage of the legislation, Congressman Brown made the following statement:
“Freight and passenger rail play an incredibly important role in our nation’s transportation system and our economy. This legislation will serve to strengthen that important contribution. Not only was I proud to have worked to include language in this bill that will make highway-rail crossings safer by introducing new safety technology, but most importantly this bill sets the foundation for a privately-funded high speed rail line along the Eastern Seaboard connecting the population centers of the north to tourism centers along the coast, especially Charleston and Myrtle Beach.”
The legislation passed by the House on Wednesday combines the substance of Amtrak reauthorization legislation that passed both Houses of Congress earlier this year (H.R. 6003 in the House) with an improved version of the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007 (H.R. 2095), which originally passed the House in October, 2007. A key portion of the bill is a requirement for the U.S. Department of Transportation to solicit proposals for the financing, development and operation of high-speed rail corridors nationwide, including corridors along the Eastern Seaboard. The goal of the legislation is to engage the private sector in developing high-speed rail systems that mirror those operating in Europe and Asia. Congressman Brown and Ranking Member Mica worked to include the original version of this proposal in the House’s Amtrak bill and continued this effort during negotiations with the Senate.
In addition, the bill includes reforms of the current Amtrak bureaucracy and other provisions to improve passenger rail service, including improvements to Amtrak’s financing systems, allowing freight railroads to bid on operating passenger services on current Amtrak routes, and bringing together the public and private sector to draft state plans for rail infrastructure. The rail safety provisions of the bill includes a requirement for the risk-based deployment of positive train control systems (PTC), technology that will dramatically increase rail safety, on passenger and commuter routes and main line freight routes that transport toxic inhalants such as chlorine. Congressman Brown secured language in the legislation that will foster introduction of new intelligent transportation systems technologies at highway-rail grade crossings. New technologies being researched now will one day provide the ability to use an in-vehicle warning of danger at highway-rail crossings and, perhaps, even provide the means to intervene before a collision occurs. Brown’s provision will speed up the development and deployment of these technologies by allowing innovative partnerships between the private sector, state DOTs and the federal government.
The legislation now moves to the Senate for final consideration before being sent to the White House. For more information on Congressman Brown’s work on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee go to http://brown.house.gov/Issues/transportation.html.
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