AMTRAK's Acela Line Gets Major Financial Boost
WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) - Vice President Joe Biden announced a nearly $2.5-billion federal loan to improve the AMTRAK system between Washington and Boston.
Biden unveiled the loan at the Joseph R. Biden Train Station in Wilmington Friday. He's been an advocate of the rail line for a long time:
"I have traveled over two-million-one hundred thousand miles on AMTRAK. I have made over 8,000, roughly, 400 round trips. I believe it's 257 miles a day. And these men and women have become my family."
He says AMTRAK is invaluable to the entire region:
"You can't make this country work without rail. You'd need seven more lanes on I-95, seven more lanes, on I-95 to accommodate the traffic if AMTRAK shuts down."
The money will be used to buy 28 new train sets for the high speed Acela line.
Biden said the loan will be used to rehabilitate train tracks and upgrade four train stations.
The loan is the largest ever in the history of the Department of Transportation.
