Initial Amtrak FY12 numbers floated

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Thursday plans to mark up a funding bill that includes $227 million for Amtrak operations in fiscal year 2012, down from $563 million in the previous two fiscal years, according to the National Association of Railroad Passengers.

Also included is $899 million for capital investments (“of which not to exceed $271 million shall be for debt service obligations”), NARP says. The comparable FY 2011 figure was $924 million.

The House subcommittee markup has nothing for high speed rail. The operating funds are scored at 100% first-year outlays, and are thus more ‘costly’ for the committee to provide.

The more likely outcome, at least initially, is a continuing resolution and not individual funding bills, according to NARP President Ross Capon.