The amended bill passed, 219-196 on Friday, almost entirely along party lines but still needs Senate approval
An Amtrak Acela train runs northbound on the Northeast Corridor line through Hamilton Township in this file photo.The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed an amended energy and water bill Friday that would divert $1 billion from high-speed rail projects — including electrical upgrades on the busy Northeast Corridor Line in New Jersey — to pay for flood relief along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
But New Jersey’s two Democratic U.S. senators are trying to get the Department of Transportation to obligate the money before Congress gets hold of it.
Weary commuters on the Northeast Corridor between Trenton and New York City have long called for upgrades to the Depression-era overhead "catenary" wires that power the trains. Last month, power problems were blamed for three consecutive days of delays.
The amendment to divert the rail money in New Jersey and elsewhere was proposed last month by a seemingly unlikely source — a New Jersey congressman.
"The flooding in the Midwest has been devastating," U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) told McClatchy News Service earlier in the week. "We must be serious about controlling the deficit."
A Frelinghuysen spokesman told The Star-Ledger last month the high-speed rail money had not been obligated and was therefore eligible to be rescinded.
The amended bill passed, 219-196 on Friday, almost entirely along party lines.
It still needs the approval of the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.
In May, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he was handing out more than $2 billion for rail projects.
The Northeast Corridor from New Brunswick to a just south of Trenton was to get $450 million for electrical improvements over the next six years that would have allowed speeds of 160 mph — up from 135 mph now — and increased overall reliability.
U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez (both D-N.J.) urged LaHood to obligate the money for the New Jersey rail project before the House bill becomes law.
"We were pleased by the announcement of this funding in May and look forward to the critical benefits this investment will soon provide to Amtrak and NJ Transit riders in our home state," the senators wrote to LaHood.
"As you know, the Northeast Corridor — and particularly the area slated for $450 million of improvements in New Jersey — is an ideal recipient of the high-speed rail grants rejected by Florida. Each weekday alone, the commuter ridership on the NEC averages more than 722,000 people and Amtrak service along the NEC provides the equivalent of 243 flights and 30,000 cars."