By Andrew Tangel
An Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia that killed at least six
people Tuesday cast a pall over one of the busiest and most
lucrative passenger rail routes in the U.S.
The Northeast Corridor, which runs between Washington, D.C., and
Boston, is the national passenger railroad's moneymaker, churning
profits that prop up money-losing long-distance routes elsewhere in
the country.
Now, the Amtrak line that carries top government officials,
corporate commuters and weekend travelers is grappling with what
one railroad official called its deadliest accident in nearly three
decades. It is believed to be the worst accident along the
Northeast Corridor since 1987, when 16 people were killed near
Baltimore after a Conrail train collided with an Amtrak train. The
accident sparked several safety reforms.
As railroad officials and regulators began to assess the damage
from Tuesday's wreck, the accident was expected to upend train
service between major American cities for the rest of the week.
The incident comes as Amtrak--which relies in part on funding
from federal and state governments for its operations--is pushing
for funding to upgrade aging infrastructure along the Northeast
Corridor and working on finishing the installation of an advanced
signal system known as positive train control, which is aimed at
preventing collisions and derailments.
The railroad has already installed the federally mandated system
between New Haven, Conn., and Boston and was to complete work
between New York and Washington by the end of this year, an Amtrak
official said.
In Washington on Wednesday, House lawmakers debated a
transportation spending bill that would cut federal funding for
Amtrak operations in fiscal 2016 by 18%.
"The bill is a victim of the majority's policy of self-imposed
austerity, " said Rep. David Price (D., N.C.), speaking at House
Appropriations Committee debate on the bill. "As investigators
continue to piece together the series of events that unfolded, this
committee must renew our commitment to provide whatever assistance
is necessary to ensure safety aboard passenger train systems."
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R., Fla.) said the committee was
awaiting the findings of the National Transportation Safety Board
about the accident. "From those findings, Congress must look at
what we can do to try to avoid this from ever happening again," he
said. "I know that I speak for everyone, not only in this committee
but around the country that our hearts, our prayers are with
them."
For the 2015 budget year, which ends Sept. 30, Amtrak had $1.39
billion in federal funding for its operations, capital spending and
debt service, according to the appropriations panel. The committee
was considering a bill that would set 2016 funding at $1.14
billion, which included a boost in the operations budget but larger
cuts to federal grants for capital spending and debt service.
Lawmakers met at a separate and previously scheduled House
Transportation Committee panel hearing on Wednesday to discuss
freight railroad oversight, during which the Amtrak accident came
up. "While we don't yet know many details, we need to know how this
happened and ensure the safety of the system and the millions of
Americans who rely on the Northeast Corridor," House Transportation
Chairman Bill Shuster (R., Pa.) said in a written statement.
While authorities declined to speculate on what caused the
wreck, the Amtrak official said the train derailed in an area known
as Frankford Junction.
The area features a sharp curve that has a speed restriction of
55 miles per hour, the official said. To the east, trains are
allowed to travel up to 100 mph; to the west, 80 mph, this official
said.
Northeast Regional trains, the type involved in Tuesday's wreck,
can travel as fast as about 125 mph in this area of the Northeast
Corridor, while Acela Express trains are currently restricted at
135 mph, the official said.
Amtrak officials have recently been touting rising Northeast
Corridor revenue and ridership across the railroad.
Amtrak's Northeast Corridor had 11.6 million riders in fiscal
year 2014, up 3.3% from 11.3 million the previous year.
The Northeast Corridor had an operating surplus of $496.7
million in fiscal year 2014, up from $390.1 million the previous
year, the railroad has said.
Amtrak officials have been making cases publicly and to local
and congressional leaders for increased funding for big-ticket
infrastructure upgrades, including a replacement of a Hackensack
River rail bridge in New Jersey that is more than a century old and
frequently snarls train traffic when it fails to close
properly.
They are also trying to secure billions of dollars in funding to
dig two additional rail tunnels beneath the Hudson River. Amtrak
officials have warned they may need to shut down one of the two
existing tunnels between New Jersey and New York so they can repair
extensive damage caused by superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com