U.S. House backs North Atlantic Rail

The North Atlantic Rail Alliance today thanked the U.S. House of Representatives and lead sponsor Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY3) for approval of a North Atlantic Rail Interstate Compact to lead construction of the $105 billion network of high-speed, high-performance lines, including 100-minute New York-Boston train service and connections to dozens of smaller cities throughout New England and New York.

The House by a 217-186 vote approved Rep. Suozzi’s amendment to the INVEST in America Act creating the compact, which would pursue completion of North Atlantic Rail in close coordination with Amtrak, state DOTs, and the Northeast Corridor Commission and deliver the completed network to Amtrak. Alongside the up to 10 compacts proposed nationally by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to bring high-speed rail throughout the U.S., the NAR Interstate Compact would include representatives from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and those states’ transportation departments, Amtrak, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The North Atlantic Rail Alliance also thanks House Rules Committee Chairman Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA2) and co-sponsors of Rep. Suozzi’s amendment for their important support: Reps. Jim Langevin (D-RI2), Stephen Lynch (D-MA8), David Cicilline (D-RI1), Annie Kuster (D-NH2), Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY4), Lee Zeldin (D-NY1), and Ritchie Torres (D-NY15), several of whom were also among the 23 Members of Congresssupporting inclusion of North Atlantic Rail in infrastructure legislation last month.

NAR Alliance co-chair Steve Bellone, County Executive of Suffolk County, N.Y., said, “Support for North Atlantic Rail is growing every day as more and more leaders and residents throughout our seven states and the nation realize what a transformational strategy NAR will be for economic growth and justice, greater access to opportunity, and environmental sustainability and resiliency throughout our region. We thank and commend Congressman Tom Suozzi for leading the coalition that won support for the NAR Interstate Compact in the House.”

Hartford, Conn., Mayor Luke Bronin, also an NAR Alliance co-chair, said: “North Atlantic Rail is about jobs, climate, housing opportunity, and growth, and will unlock enormous economic opportunity for countless communities throughout New England and New York. President Biden has called for sparking a second great rail revolution for America, and we can’t do that just by fixing what‘s broken—we need to act in big, bold ways to bring our rail infrastructure into the 21st century, and this is how that starts.”

NAR Alliance co-chair Douglas McGarrah, chairman of the Boston civic advocacy organization A Better City, said: “North Atlantic Rail would play a giant role in our seven states achieving our 2050 net-zero carbon emissions goals and mandates by creating the network of high-speed, regional, and local transit, all powered by clean, renewable electricity, that gets commuters and travelers out of heavily polluting cars and short-haul airplanes. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to imagine how we ever achieve the 2050 reductions in emissions from the transportation sector required without building North Atlantic Rail.’’

NAR Alliance President Robert D. Yaro added: “We look forward to working with the Senate, the Biden-Harris Administration, Amtrak, the seven states and their DOTs, the Northeast Corridor Commission and other stakeholders to make the North Atlantic Rail vision become reality, creating thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in new private-sector investment, and delivering on the enormous climate, racial, and economic justice benefits that NAR can achieve.’’

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About North Atlantic Rail

North Atlantic Rail is a $105 billion plan for a new network of high-speed and high-performance intercity and regional rail service connecting smaller cities throughout all six New England states and New York, including a new 100-minute rail service from Boston to New York via Providence, Hartford, New Haven, and Long Island. North Atlantic Rail’s vision is to drive jobs and economic opportunity throughout the region with a 21st century rail-enabled growth strategy, taking on climate change with a more sustainable, resilient, efficient rail network, and ensuring the region gets its fair share of federal infrastructure investment. The North Atlantic Rail Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization backed by a growing coalition of foundations, unions, and civic groups to advocate for the NAR Network.