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RAILnet-21
Revitalizing Amtrak’s Infrastructure and Long-distance network for the 21st Century
JAMES J. FLORIO, ESQ.
Former Governor, State of New Jersey; former Chairman of the House Sub-Committee on Commerce, Transportation and Tourism of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; prime sponsor of the Staggers Act; drafted the legislation which privatized Conrail; member of the blue-ribbon working group enlisted by Congress in 1997 to develop a funding solution for Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. That plan was the forerunner of RAILnet-21.
"The current Amtrak model is unsustainable. The expectation that Congress will adequately fund the system’s infrastructure, especially on the Northeast Corridor, is unrealistic. Relieving the burden of such funding from Amtrak, allowing it to focus on just operating the system, makes sense. The RAILnet-21 Proposal for a Public-Private Partnership which would assume the financing of infrastructure needs would relieve Congress, Amtrak and Commuter Agencies of those costs and create thousands of jobs to boot. It’s an idea whose time has come.”
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