most, since it's not something we have in our state, though maybe with the stimulus money we could get some. that would be nice. it is an opportunity, obviously, the fund that's been made available for high speed rail and the -- in the president's budget, nottle on the stimulus money but the other $5 billion in the next five annual ap)k rragirgrr''rr$%

such as ridership and project kansases submitted by applicants and what oversight will occur and how will it be carried out to ensure that projects come in on budget and on time. i hope congress will monitor how this program is implemented and i hope the program succeeds. and that when we look back five years from now and after spending as much as $13 billion as is envisioned by the

president, that we'll see great progress. to me, it means trains that serve real needs that are constructed on budget and on schedule, filled with passengers making the routes economically viable. i want to thank our panelists for appearing today and sharing their testimony. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. the chairman of the committee, senator rockefeller. i want to make him a general, but -- >> thank you, chairman lautenberg. first of all, i want to apologize. i'm not on the judiciary committee. the white house is anxious to have all senators meet with judge sotomayor before recess, i have been assigned a time at 3:15. that's kind of for life, for

her, should she win, which i think she will. so i have to excuse myself but i do that without any misgivings, because this is frank lautenberg's passion and has been for years, really more than anybody. so i also welcome all of you, including governor rendell, i just told him, i never see him in person, it's always on television. and it's kind of exciting, you know to meet somebody like that >> mr. chairman, you don't know how exciting it is. i've worked with him. >> now, i agree totally with senator lautenberg that the -- on the excitement of high speed passenger rail. i've spent 10, 12 years either chairing or being ranking on the aviation subcommittee of this body.

and it just occurs to me that we're down now, to relatively few airlines with lots of problems and if you just look at the pattern of people's behavior, they want to use fast rail. they want to use rail. and they want to use fast rail system of that's what this is about. i look at west virginia, people have been -- people don't necessarily assume there's a lot of passenger rail through west virginia, it's actually a huge fact, it is obviously in southwestern virginia also. in fact, our amtrak service, which senator lautenberg helped so much, has increased -- has doubled in one of its lines in the last year. doubled.

and the other has rizz bin 19%. west virginians don't travel endlessly, so this is a very important statement. earlier this year, senator lautenberg joined as he indicated with the vice president, the $1.3 billion application -- allocation to the stimulus package. it was called -- it was cold, the speeches were not interesting, but the money is real. that's what counts. and i have to say, in a nonpartisan fashion, that it is thrilling to have, as senator lautenberg pointed out, somebody in the white house who wants this and isn't happy with the level of green up there.

wants more green. i believe that passenger rail can do a lot for us as a country. that's not a cliche. we need to increase the use of passenger rail enormously, not just for passengers but for freight and we need to do it as fast as we possibly can. the -- it affect ours climate change. it affects 1/3 of our greenhouse emissions in this country. the department of energy's oak ridge national laboratories says the inner city passenger rail is 17% more efficient than air travel. that it is 21% more efficient than auto travel. says something. so encouraging greater use of it is terribly important. i'll do everything i can, senator lautenberg to work with you to make sure we can do this

and we will. it's inevitable. it's part of america's destiny. i thank the chair. and i apologize to the audience and witnesses. >> thanks very much, senator rockefeller. your position ss chairman of the -- as chairman of this committee is one that gives us encouragement that we can achieve the goal of ours of having a more important rail leg tour transportation system. we thank you for your encouragement. senator hutchison. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i am very pleased, too, to be at this hearing and also to have the opportunity to have a texas presence at the hearing because you and i, mr. chairman, have worked far long time on amtrak, keeping amtrak viable and i will say that we've had a very productive partnership at keeping the national part of amtrak also viable and i think that is

essential and now that we're beginning to see the possibilities for high speed rail, i think it becomes even more important to have the national part of they have system also have the opportunity for high speed rail to connect into amtrak and therefore provide really better synergism and ridership and service to both amtrak and the high speed rail that i do think will help ease the traffic congestion in many parts of our country. i was very pleased, you mentioned the amtrak re-authorization bill last year. the first amtrak authorization bill before this last one was 1997, i sponsored that one as chairman of the surface transportation subcommittee. i think we did some great reforms in last year's to begin the process of having a federal

partnership for capital grant programs for states to be ailing to invest in rail. i think that's an important step forward to making it more viable. because any successful rail project is going to have to have multipartners. it's going to have to have private sector, federal, state, because it's so expensive. the early investment is expensive, but then it becomes much more efficient after it is finally built and established. i'm pleased to welcome mr. sabo, who will appear for the first time in your new position as f.r.a. administeror, you'll play a big part in this. you'll have meetings to determine what the parameters for high speed rail should be. i think having them all over the country is another good

sign. i just want to say that the -- robert exles, the former county judge, which is the county executive, in texas, of our largest county, harris county. he's now heading up the effort for a high speed rail corridor, the texas t-bone, it's a great plan coming forward and i think could go right into amtrak. it could have a lot of great results and i hope that it is one of the first projects that can get some of the stimulus funding that would be available. i think that it's great that he's here to talk about the national system and i just want to recognize governor rendell, who also is someone with whom i've worked a long time and his brother is actually my constituent in dallas, robert, and also a good friend and someone that -- with whom i have worked also in dallas and in texas. so we have a lot of interest

here and i look forward to hearing from the witnesses and it's a very distinguished panel. thank you very much, mr. chairman. >> we made a decision before that because of the size and the quality of the witnesses here today we would forgo additional opening statements and we'll try to deal with this expeditiously and have just five-minute rounds or six-minute rounds maybe to give just an extra minute for use as the members see it. i'd like to introduce the witness panel. a good friend and governor ed rendell of pennsylvania. just like the people of new jersey, our neighbors in pennsylvania rely on trains on a daily basis. governor rendell has been a vigorous advocate for passenger rail and i recall clearly his

satisfaction, but his energy in getting a new rail link between philadelphia and harrisburg and it met with almost immediate success and that's the kind of story we expect to see constantly. the honorable joseph sabo, the f.r.a. administeror. this is the first time you've been before this committee since your confirmation. we're looking forward to hearing how you're working to develop first-class rail passenger service, i know your head and heart are behind that. the honorable judge robert exles, chairman of the texas -- eccles chairman of the texas high speed corporation, ms. susan plining, and tom skanke, commissioner of the revenue study commission, president and

c.e.o. of the skancke company and we thank you all for being here and governor rendell if you would, please take five minutes to summarize, try to meet the target, if we can. >> mr. chairman, you forgot mr. boardman. >> i looked at you and -- fire that person. >> i've only been here six months. >> that's what happens, take advantage of relationships. i know, we're glad to have you, joe, you do a great job at amtrak, we're proud of you, i'm sorry, i thank you governor for the reminder. we'll start you off at a fresh five-minute clock. >> mr. chairman, ranking member, it's a pleasure to be here. i think this is a tremendous opportunity for the country and i would -- i would analogize it to the opportunity we had when

we built the federal highway city. i come here today wearing three hats, governor of pennsylvania, chairman of the governors association and co-chair of building america's future, dedicated to building and improving america's infrastructure i started with governor schwarzenegger and mayor bloomberg a bipartisanning orny swarkse believe that promoting intercity rail is a key priority for america's overall infrastructure plan. you talked about the success pennsylvania has had. teamed up with amtrak we invested $145 million and improved the time on that philadelphia to harrisburg line from 120 minutes to 90 minutes and in two short years, our ridership has gone from 898,000 to nearly 1.2 million as a result of that change. if we build it right, people will ride it. i have no doubt about that.

there has been similar progress around the country and a lot of emphasis on doing what we did. the harrisburg line is improved to 110 miles per hour. i'll talk about that in a second. i believe as we look at intercity passenger rail, we can't be content as a nation to build out 110-mile systems. if we do that, we're absolutely consigning ourselveses to second class citizenship compared to asia and europe. we have to find a way to build and finance true high%b@ @ @ @á

with just this $13 billion investment, they intend to increase, maybe double or trip they will size of their workforce in doing such. t.g.v., the french rail system, is run by a company called sncf a national rail company. they employ over 200,000 people in good paying jobs and let me remind you, france is a company 1/5 the size the u.s. just imagine the number of jobs

that would be permanent jobs in building this high speed rail system as well as all the construction jobs and orders for the factories in building out the system itself. but if we're going to do this we have to do it right and we have to do it at scale. $13 billion and i know what senator thorn said, $13 billion is a lot of money but it's a small amount of money to do what needs to be done. to build high-speed rail up the california coast is estimated to be a $45 billion cost factor. to build a high-speed train from philadelphia to the midwest would cost between $20 billion and $25 billion alone. a couple of months -- a couple weeks ago vice president biden had a meeting with six governors. and it was a very interesting meeting. the governors were all pushing for their own projects, 100-mile projects. the midwest governors said they had a plan to link the

midwestern cities at 100 to 110 miles an hour. senator mccain said there is a plan to link washington with 100 to 110-mile-an-hour train. governor patrick said, slow down. we can't make this effort building 100-mile-an-hour train systems. or else we are truly consigning ourselves to be a second-class nation when it comes to transporting our citizens. we have to look at the maglas. we have to look at the bullet trains. we have to look at improving the aseller. we can go from new york to washington in an hour and 30 minutes. we can go from new york to philadelphia in 33 minutes. we can consign the shuttle to the rusty. and by doing that we can improve east-west traffic all over the eastern seaboard. we shouldn't be flying people 500 miles or less. we should put them on high-speed trains.

now reabthern asked a very important question. -- now, ranking member thorn asked a very important question. what should be given priority? i suggest we create a national infrastructure bank staffed by professionals, not necessarily professionals all of them in transportation. it could be some former members of congress. some former secretaries of transportation. and rank projects on a cost benefit analysis, rank projects on priority, what they do for transporting people, how many people, the effect on climate change. an independent ranking system. because the public wants that. the public doesn't want transportation dollars authorized through the same old system. and certainly not for projects on this magnitude. and lastly, how are we going to pay for it? because $13 billion, as ranking member thorn said, it is a lot of money but it's just a drop in the bucket.

how will we pay for high-speed rail system in this country? i would recommend congress consider using some of the money that comes from a national climate change law to do just that. what better way could we help our climate than getting cars off the road, trucks off the road by building buses off -- buses off the road by building a high-speed rail system? if that money will be spoken for elsewhere or if that bill doesn't come to pass, i think the time has come to look for a federal capital budget. you know, the federal government is the only political entity in the united states that does not have a capital budget. to have a capital budget, to do the things we can do with a capital budget, you have to change the way that c.b.o. and o.m.b. score. they can't score the total investment. they have to score the debt service, like we do in pennsylvania. we score what we pay for in that year. a federal capital budget, even if the federal capital budget doesn't fund the total

infrastructure picture but just funds the infrastructure bank, it could work. so the time is in my judgment the time calls for bold and strong actions. if we do this, the obama administration and this congress will be remembered at the same way that president eisenhower and the congress he worked with is remembered for building the national highway system. >> thank you very much. i didn't want you to speed up at the end, but the -- you got me so excited about high speed. thanks very much. now, for mr. szabo, we'd like to hear from you. >> thank you, chairman lautenberg, senator thune, senator hutchinson and members of the congress. it's an honor to appear here on behalf of president obama, vice president biden and secretary lahood to discuss the future of high-speed rail. the obama administration has a vision that ensures safe and efficient transportation

choices. one that builds a foundation for economic competitiveness, one that promotes energy efficiency, environmental quality and one that supports interconnected livable communities. and in each case passenger rail is an integral part of that vision. in many cases even modest investment in existing right ofways can result in high-speed rail with competitive trip times and continued rails unmatched safety records. transportation is the lifeblood of any economy. and not only will the high-speed rail vision improve mobility, but obviously the construction will create many short-term jobs but more more importantly the sustained investment will revitalize domestic rail suppliers in the manufacturing industry. rail is already among the cleanest and most energy

efficient means of moving goods and people. in fact, one study indicates that implementing the current federally designated high-speed rail corridors would result in an annual reduction of six billion pounds of co-2. a network taking our national rail system is a foundation with traditional speeds and then commuter rail systems and providing connections with transit will provide those interconnected communities that we see. senator hutchinson mentioned outreach. we think that's critical in the development of our guidance and as we continue to move forward with the national rail plan, we believe that's fundamental, that we need to reach out and engage the very stakeholders right from the inception of all this.

particularly pleased that in the seven outreach sessions we've conducted so far, nearly 1,200 people participated with a high level of enthusiasm and with a great deal of very, very beneficial comments that were in fact incorporated into the guidance that we just released. our success is going to determine -- be determined by these partnerships. and like the construction of the highway system, states are going to play a very critical role. we're on track, and we're using essentially the same model that the europeans did in their rolling out of high-speed rail. our near-term strategy seeks to advance new expressed high-speed corridor services that speeds over 150 miles per hour in corridors of 200 to 600 miles. and then for corridors of 100 to 500 miles we seek to develop both emerging high-speed rail

corridors at speeds of 90 to 110 miles an hour on track with freight operations. and also develop high-speed rail corridor systems at speeds of 110 to 150 miles an hour on dedicated tracks. in addition we will be looking to upgrade the reliability and traditional 170-mile-an-hour inner city service. our guidance document was out on time. it provides four tracks for possible funding. projects that are individual projects that have individual utility and individual benefits. a track for corridor programs which is more comprehensive on implementing a full buildout of a corridor plan. a track for planning to assist those states that aren't quite as far along but still have a keen interest in implementing high-speed rail plans. and then an area for projects

that will provide for 50/50 split, that will allow those states that are willing to help match dollars allow us to stretch our dollars further. the criteria for selection will be based strictly on merit. we will be measuring the public benefits, those that are measurable, achieveability and cost-effective. a key element will be the applicant's ability to mitigate risk, the applicant's ability -- their fiscal capacity to carry out the project, their fiscal ability to cover capital and operating expenses and their ability to have adequate project oversight. this is a transformation for f.r.a. historically we've been a safety agency and safety remains our top priority. but it's important to note that our passenger rail staff is, you know -- our staffing levels are from a quieter era when all

we had to do was issue a couple of grants to amtrak or perhaps to short line railroad. and clearly that's changed. we're asking the members of this committee to support the president's fiscal year 2010 budget that starts to address the staffing problems managing a program of this magnitude that will bring to this agency. and we ask that project oversight takedown be consistent with more -- the more traditional 1% instead of the quarter of one percent that was asked for us in the recovery act. with that i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much. and now mr. joe boardman, former f.r.a. administrator, former state transportation official. joe, forgive me again for leaving you at the station when the train was pulling out.

i am back apologetically. >> all is forgiven and i hope to never leave you at the station, senator. thank you, mr. chairman, and senators all. amtrak has been providing inner city passenger service for nearly 40 years and we regard ourselves as the leaders in the field. but half of our 310 daily trains operate on some part of the northeast corridor which is currently the only high-speed railroad on the continent. its -- in its operation we built gradually to but surely into 150-mile-an-hour railroad. this has given us a unique and unpair lelled experience in the operation of service above 100 miles an hour under north american conditions. i recently returned from an extensive tour of our western operations. in fact, 9,000 miles worth of riding the train and amtrak prepared food. they were good but i would have

liked more variety. i can assure you that the mood of our employees and our supporters is optimistic. people are excited about the future of amtrak and inner city passenger rail and there's a real sense that we have a historic opportunity ahead of us. the passenger rail and investment improvement act or prixa establishes a new relationship between the government, states and the railroad. this committee played a privityal role in enactment of this legislation. this is my first appearance before this committee as president of amtrak. so on behalf of the company and all of its supporters i'd like to thank the committee and in particular senator lautenberg and senator hutchinson for your bipartisanship. the states are the strategic planners. they decide which markets should be served by rail and they fund the operating cost for newer expanded corridor services. while the federal matching program provides funding for capital projects, states will need to provide the annual