Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep.Berman stated, “With Saturday being the second anniversary of the bombings of the commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, killing 192 people, I am calling upon the leaders in Congress to increase investments in rail and transit security.”

 

Rep. Berman pointed out, “Since 9/11, for every seven dollars we spend on an airline passenger, we spend just over a penny for a mass transit or rail passenger, and this leaves our rail and transit systems woefully underfunded and underprotected.”

 

The coordinated and timed bombings in Madrid in March 2004 and in London in July 2005 are the latest example of the fact that from 1998 to 2003, there were 181 terrorist attacks on rail targets worldwide.  Passenger rail systems in the United States carry about five times as many passengers each day as do airlines, yet only about $600 million of the estimated $6 billion needed in improving transit security has been provided by the Republican-led Congress since 9/11.  And only $145 million has been provided for rail security since 9/11.

 

 “Unfortunately, both in his budget last year and this year, President Bush has proposed eliminating the rail and transit security grants by rolling them into an underfunded, larger grant program – thereby forcing rail and transit systems to compete for funding with other infrastructure.”

 

As recently as on March 8, the House Appropriations Committee rejected on a party-line vote a Democratic amendment that would have increased funding for the rail and transit security grant program from $150 million to $500 million.

 

Democrats will continue to fight this year for greater security for the millions of Americans who use mass transit and rail services each day.