Specter asks for funds to repair Amtrak bridges

Sen. Arlen Specter today asked Vice President Biden for federal stimulus funds to repair Amtrak bridges in the Philadelphia region.

His request followed an article Sunday in The Inquirer that detailed the deteriorated condition of many Amtrak bridges in the region. Of the 302 Amtrak-owned bridges in Southeastern Pennsylvania, 143 have elements rated "poor" or worse, according to Amtrak inspection reports obtained by The Inquirer.

Specter also wrote to Amtrak President Joseph H. Boardman, asking for a report on how the national passenger railroad intends to address the issue of its deteriorated bridges. Noting that Amtrak owns about 1,400 bridges nationwide, Specter asked Boardman if "the conditions in the Philadelphia region reflect a national state of disrepair for Amtrak-owned bridges?

"If so, what is your plan to address this national problem?"

In Specter's letter to Boardman, the senator wrote that he was "deeply troubled" by The Inquirer report, "as I suspect are many of my constituents as well as Amtrak riders from the region, who depend on rail transportation and traverse these bridges daily . . . It is critical that Amtrak riders have confidence that every measure is taken to ensure safe travel."

Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said Amtrak "will respond to his request as quickly and thoroughly as possible. One message we will convey to Sen. Specter is that safety continues to be our first priority, and all Amtrak bridges are frequently inspected for safe train operations."

A spokesperson for Biden, Elizabeth Alexander, said Specter's letter had been received. "We have been assured by the engineers and safety experts at Amtrak that all bridges in the Philadelphia area have been inspected and are safe for travel. Furthermore, Amtrak will be doing maintenance on the rails and bridges in Philadelphia in the near future," she said.

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, Specter's opponent for the Democratic nomination for the Senate, accused Specter of being a late convert to funding for Amtrak. Sestak said Specter opposed stimulus funding for Amtrak during Congressional debate earlier this year.

"Public transportation infrastructure is critical; that's why I fought to include an additional $1 million in the transportation appropriations bill specifically for Amtrak," Sestak said in a statement today. "That is also why I was a strong advocate for an insertion of $850 million into the economic stimulus bill for Amtrak capital improvements, like bridges.

"However, this was opposed by Arlen Specter, who voted to remove it from the Economic Stimulus Bill as he states on his website that 'My preference would have been John McCain's proposal, which I voted for, to have the stimulus package of $421 billion in tax cuts alone.' "

"What Pennsylvania needs is a leader to prevent a crisis; not someone who shows up on the scene after there is one," Sestak said.

In Specter's letter to Biden, the senator urged that some of the $850 million in stimulus funds approved for Amtrak for infrastructure and equipment be allocated "to help remedy the deficiencies described in the [Inquirer] report."

Biden was selected by President Obama earlier this year to oversee the implementation of the $787 billion economic-stimulus package.

Specter said that Biden, because of his daily train commute between Washington and Delaware during his decades as a senator, "has a unique interest in Amtrak."

Specter also said in his letter to Biden that he believes "it is important to conduct a national study of Amtrak infrastructure and promptly devise a plan to address deficiencies."

Decades of wear, rain, snow, road salt, and debris, as well as years of deferred maintenance, have taken a serious toll on Amtrak's bridges.

Amtrak's inspections of its Philadelphia-area bridges detailed an array of defects, such as worn metal plates, decaying stone walls, eroded support piers, rusted girders, and missing rivets.

Amtrak officials said that despite the deteriorated condition of many of the bridges, they remained safe for public travel.

Specter said that The Inquirer article "accurately characterizes the scope of the problem," and that Amtrak's chief should respond by "stepping forward and saying what they need and what ought to be done."

"There's tremendous public concern about this," Specter said. "We're a very wealthy country, but our infrastructure in general is in terrible shape."

On the Amtrak line between Philadelphia and New York, 60.6 percent of the bridges in Southeastern Pennsylvania have some elements rated "poor" or worse. On the Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg line, 50.8 percent of the area bridges have "poor" components. The Philadelphia-to-Washington line had fewer low marks, with 15 percent of the area bridges with "poor" elements.