U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee, today questioned top federal railroad officials about security along our nation's 140,000 miles of track.
"We all remember watching in horror as the television relayed the devastating aftermath of the terrorist attacks on trains in Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, Mumbai in 2006, and Moscow in 2010," said Senator Collins. "We are thankful that there have not yet been similar attacks here in America, but we cannot become complacent as al Qaeda or even homegrown terrorists could launch attacks, particularly given the intelligence from bin Laden's compound."
Witnesses at today's hearing included Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo and Joseph Boardman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amtrak.
During questioning of Mr. Boardman, Senator Collins suggested Congress could work with Amtrak to help increase cooperation between state, local, and county law enforcement agencies in an effort to better identify vulnerabilities and potential threats along our nation's rail lines.
"With an eye towards ensuring tax payer dollars are used as efficiently as possible, we must make certain that adequate security measures and technology deployment are implemented throughout the passenger rail sector," Senator Collins said.
Senator Collins also thanked FRA Administrator Szabo for working with her, state and county officials to preserve critical rail freight service in northern Maine.
"I worked closely with the Department of Transportation to secure $10.5 million in federal funds on a crucial rail line project in my home state. The 233-miles of rail line serving Northern Maine had been proposed for abandonment, which would have endangered nearly 1,700 jobs. Now we can begin the important work of upgrading the tracks to preserve and improve this rail service," Senator Collins said.
Looking ahead at Amtrak's budget request for Fiscal Year 2012, Senator Collins said federal investment plays an important role, but must be done in a fiscally responsible manner. While Amtrak has increased ridership and cut its debt level from $4 billion in 2008 to $1.8 billion today, more needs to be done. Amtrak predicts its net operating loss for FY12 is $616 million, which is nearly $200 million more than FY10's net operating loss.
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