Amtrak funding

The rail safety bill that the House of Representatives may vote on today is part of package of other rail legislation. While the rail safety bill has received the lion's share of media attention -- and for good reason -- one of the bills in the package, S 294, would authorize $12.9 billion for Amtrak over the next five years. The last long-term spending bill for Amtrak expired in 2002 and supporters of this bill say it would double Amtrak spending on an annual basis.

Amtrak has seen record ridership levels in the past few months, but has often struggled to keep up. Some trains -- particularly on the weekends -- on the Los Angeles-to-San Diego route have been standing-room-only and on some occasions passengers who had tickets were not allowed to board trains that were already stuffed to the max.

The House and Senate have passed earlier versions of the spending bill. The one up for a vote in the House is the compromise version.

-- Steve Hymon