§24904 Northeast Corridor Planning

Summary

The Northeast Corridor Commission must send a service development plan to Congress by March 31, 2022. The plan must list important repair, capacity, and capital projects. It must cover 15 years and show agreed service goals and the capital needed to meet them. The plan must give a realistic delivery schedule that shows project phasing, workforce needs, and ways to manage resources and reduce construction impacts on service. It must also include a financial strategy that names funding needs and possible funding sources. The Commission must update that service plan at least once every 5 years. By November 1 each year, the Commission must make and send an annual capital investment plan to the Secretary of Transportation, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. That plan must coordinate work across the whole corridor, fold in Amtrak’s, State’s, and commuter agencies’ capital plans under the approved cost-allocation rules, and cover 5 fiscal years starting with the year it is sent. The plan must document projects that advance the service goals and asset needs after weighing benefits, costs, readiness, operational effects, and funding. It must sort projects into the required categories, note any that fit more than one category, and include a financial plan showing funding sources, cost-sharing status, projects expected to get Federal help, and the entities expected to receive funds and carry out the projects. The Commission must allow time for agencies to review materials before it submits the plan. If no new capital plan exists for a fiscal year, money in the Northeast Corridor account for that year can only be used for projects listed in the prior year’s plan. Amtrak and other owners on the corridor must use an asset management system that matches the transit asset management approach. That system must provide an inventory of assets, assess their condition, describe the resources and steps needed to reach or keep assets in good repair, and note changes since the last submission. The Northeast Corridor means the main line between Boston and the District of Columbia, plus branch lines to Harrisburg (PA), Springfield (MA), and Spuyten Duyvil (NY), and the facilities and services used to run and maintain those lines.