WASHINGTON – Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware got off Amtrak train No. 188 in Wilmington about 30 minutes before the train derailed Tuesday in Philadelphia. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey was worried his son Rob might have been on board.
The derailment, which killed at least seven passengers, had personal meaning for Northeastern lawmakers, many of whom use the train. On Wednesday, they said the accident highlights the need for railroad safety improvements and investments in transportation infrastructure.
“We need to invest in 21st-century systems and equipment and stop relying on patchwork upgrades to old, rusted 19th-century rail lines,” Menendez, D-N.J., said in a Senate floor speech.
Menendez said he was grateful to learn his son was safe on the next train.
“Luck should not be America’s transportation policy,” he said.
Carper, D-Del., released a statement Tuesday night saying he was “grateful to be home safe and sound in Wilmington” and that his “heart goes out to all those on the train.”
He said Wednesday he was writing emails and watching the news when he saw the “graphic and horrible” images of the train he had just been riding.
“This is a grim reminder that it’s important for us to invest in our transportation modes in this country … to not only make sure we can move people and goods in a timely and safe way, but especially in a safe way,” Carper said Wednesday.
The House Appropriations Committee voted Wednesday to retain a proposed $251 million cut in Amtrak’s fiscal 2016 budget.
Rep. Ryan Costello, R-Pa., told CNN the bill should be amended on the House floor to remove that cut.
“If we’re not investing in our safety in the Northeast Corridor, we’re not doing what we should be doing here,” Costello said. “We need to have confidence that it’s a safe route.”
Sen. Cory Booker, the top-ranking Democrat on a surface transportation subcommittee, said he’s “disappointed” in the House Appropriations cuts.
He said the cuts risk “starving Amtrak of vitally important funds at the very moment we need to be investing more in passenger rail and our country’s crumbling infrastructure.”
Booker said he and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., postponed their planned introduction Wednesday of legislation to reauthorize funding and passenger rail improvements so they could assess what provisions might be needed in light of the derailment.
Investigators continued to examine the cause of the derailment Wednesday as first responders searched for more victims.
The Northeast regional train, traveling from Washington to New York City, left the tracks shortly after 9 p.m.
President Barack Obama called the accident a “tragedy that touches us all.”
Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that Amtrak is like his “second family,” after 36 years of daily train trips between Wilmington and Washington while he represented Delaware in the Senate.
“I’ve come to know the conductors, engineers and other regulars — men and women riding home to kiss their kids goodnight — as we passed the flickering lights of each neighborhood along the way,” Biden said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with every person who is grieving right now from this terrible tragedy.
“As a nation, we pray for the victims and their families.”
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said thousands of people and many businesses in her district use Amtrak along the affected route, which she also frequently takes to Washington.
“I pray for the speedy recoveries of those injured, and as we consider next steps, I hope that Congress will heed the inherent warning of this tragedy,” she said in a statement. “It’s well past time to invest in and renew our nation’s infrastructure.”
Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said Congress has long allowed critical infrastructure investments “to dwindle, and this tragic accident is a reminder of what is at stake.”
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