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Yesterday, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) conducted a hearing at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal to discuss high-speed rail investment in the Northeast Corridor.

The hearing was conducted as a follow-up to a committee report completed last fall entitled “Sitting on our Assets: The Federal Government’s Misuse of Taxpayer-Owned Assets.” The report features examples of what the committee considers to be underutilized federal assets, including the Northeast Corridor, which does not yet have “true” high-speed rail service, according to Mica.

The hearing included testimony from Mica, House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), Amtrak President Joe Boardman and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The 437-mile Northeast Corridor, which runs between Washington, D.C., and Boston, is “one of the most valuable and potentially productive federal assets in the United States,” Mica said in his testimony. The corridor is the country’s most congested — both on land and in the air — with 70 percent of the nation’s flight delays beginning in New York airspace. As a result, the corridor needs 220 mph rail service, Mica said, adding that Acela trains currently operate at an average speed of 83 mph.

Although Amtrak has unveiled a plan to develop high-speed rail service along the corridor, it would cost $117 billion and would not be completed until 2040.

“It is my hope that this timetable can be dramatically improved. Entering into public-private partnerships to assist in financing high-speed rail development on the corridor will get it built much faster and bring down costs,” he said. “Amtrak will never be capable of developing this corridor to its true high-speed potential. The task is complex and large-scale, and can only be addressed with the help of private-sector expertise and funding.”

To attract private-sector investment, the federal government should introduce competition and incentives for investment, Shuster said in his testimony.

“In the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, I was proud to author a provision that called for creating a pilot program to allow two Amtrak routes to be opened up to private-sector competition for up to five years,” he said. “Unfortunately, my provision has thus far been ignored by the Federal Railroad Administration and this competition has yet to take place.”

In addition to encouraging private investment, the government needs to invest more federal funds in the corridor, Shuster said.

“Instead of focusing on key corridors, scarce federal dollars have been spread too thin among too many different projects, leading to incremental progress that could slow our already-delayed entrance into high-speed rail,” he said, adding that the Northeast Corridor was, for the most part, kept out of the selection process. “Failing to invest in the critical Northeast Corridor will ensure continued congestion in our nation’s most densely populated region and on the corridor that presents the best opportunity for true high-speed rail and profitable service.”

Bloomberg agreed, adding that developing high-speed rail service in the corridor would add the equivalent of 1,900 lane miles, generate more than $7 billion in economic activity and create 100,000 new jobs by 2040.

“President Obama and Congress have taken a good first step by allocating $10 billion for high-speed rail. I was encouraged that the president reaffirmed this commitment during the State of the Union, setting a goal of giving 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years,” Bloomberg said in his testimony. “That’s certainly a laudable goal, but the money isn’t there for it yet.”

And while the federal government should lead a program to introduce high-speed rail service along the corridor, “we need to make sure we have the structure and rules in place that don’t discourage private investment,” Bloomberg said.

For its part, Amtrak believes it’s made a lot of progress on the Northeast Corridor during the past decade-plus, according to Boardman’s testimony.

“As a result of Amtrak's stewardship and improvement of the Northeast Corridor infrastructure, train speeds have increased from 90 mph to 150 mph, America's only high-speed rail service was introduced and additional capacity was created to support significantly expanded commuter rail operations,” he said. “We have collaborated with Northeastern states on a plan to make additional infrastructure improvements to the existing corridor and have unveiled a revolutionary vision to build a new corridor that supports 220 mph high-speed rail service.”

And Amtrak wants to be the one that carries out that vision.

“Amtrak was created by Congress precisely because the privately owned railroads could no longer sustain the vital public service of intercity passenger rail,” Boardman said. “No other operator or company is prepared to mobilize to take over the operation of the Northeast Corridor, nor are they funded to cover the long-term capital and operating costs.”