Since fiscal year 2017, Congress has appropriated nearly $7.4 billion to the Department of Transportation for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), including $2 billion for fiscal year 2020. Amtrak has a unique role in and importance to the national passenger transportation network. For example, Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Boston and Washington, D.C. carried an average of 33,215 riders a day in 2018.
