To double our ridership means we need to invest about $50 billion into our infrastructure, our maintenance facilities and our fleet nationwide,” said Laura Mason, Amtrak executive vice president of capital delivery.
Mason—who revealed details of Amtrak’s upcoming program at ENR’s second annual NY/NJ Infrastructure Forum held on Sept. 15 in Manhattan—is also doubling the size of her department to handle the flood of project design and delivery to come. The rail operator received $66 billion under the 2021 federal infrastructure law—the largest investment Amtrak has received since its founding more than 50 years ago.
I can’t help but wonder if this might result in potential future expansion of lines/routes. They seem to be emphasizing operational efficiency e.g. with the callout to cleaning, inspection, and maintenance as well as emphasizing addressing deficient or bottlenecking infrastructure - at the very least, this should make it more feasible to run more lines over current service area.