49 U.S.C. § 24320 — Amtrak 5-year service line and asset line plans

(a) In General — (1) Final plans: By February 15, 2020, and every two years after that, Amtrak must send Congress and the Secretary of Transportation finished 5-year service line plans and 5-year asset line plans. These plans are the basis for Amtrak's yearly report to the President and Congress required by section 24315(b). Each plan covers 5 fiscal years starting with the year right after the plan is finished. In years when Amtrak doesn't have to file a full plan, it must still send Congress updated financial forecasts along with its annual report. (2) Fiscal constraint: each plan must be based on the funding actually authorized or available for that year. If there's no authorization or appropriation yet, the plan uses the prior year's funding plus inflation. Amtrak may attach an appendix to the asset line plan describing funding needs beyond what's actually available. (b) Amtrak 5-Year Service Line Plans — (1) Amtrak must write a 5-year plan for each of these service lines: (A) Northeast Corridor train service; (B) state-supported train service; (C) long-distance train service; (D) ancillary services like commuter operations and other revenue-generating activities, as the Secretary and Amtrak agree; and (E) infrastructure access services for the use of Amtrak-owned or Amtrak-controlled infrastructure. (2) Each service line plan must include at least: (A) Amtrak's goals and service plan for that line, developed with input from anyone funding it, and lined up with the asset line plans; (B) details of any planned permanent change to a route's frequency or stops; (C) all projected revenue and spending, split out by passenger operations, related non-passenger operations, and government funding sources like state payments; (D) projected ridership; (E) estimated long-term and short-term debt and its principal and interest payments; (F) yearly sources-and-uses statements, forecasts, and balance sheets; (G) an explanation of the methods and assumptions behind the estimates; (H) performance measures showing year-over-year changes; (I) financial performance for each route, where the Secretary wants it, including cash operating loss or contribution; (J) expected cost savings from reform efforts; (K) past and projected equipment-reliability statistics; and (L) an explanation of any major changes from earlier approved plans. (3) To meet these requirements, Amtrak must: (A) within 180 days of the Passenger Rail Expansion and Rail Safety Act of 2021, get the Secretary's approval for a consultation process that has Amtrak (i) consult the Secretary while writing each plan, (ii) for the Northeast Corridor plan, consult the Northeast Corridor Commission and send it the final plan, (iii) for state-supported routes, consult the State-Supported Route Committee and send it the final plan, (iv) for long-distance routes, consult any states or interstate compacts that fund them, and (v) for the infrastructure access plan, consult the Northeast Corridor Commission and send it the final plan; (B) make sure its annual report to the President and Congress matches the service line plans; and (C) name the Amtrak officials responsible for each service line. (4) Amtrak may change what the service line plans must cover if the Secretary approves and finds it would improve transparency, oversight, or delivery. (5) For this section, "Northeast Corridor" means the main Boston–D.C. line and the facilities and services that run and maintain it, regardless of section 24102's definition. (c) Amtrak 5-Year Asset Line Plans — (1) Amtrak must write a 5-year plan for each of these asset lines: (A) Transportation — running and moving Amtrak trains, onboard service, and amenities; (B) Infrastructure — Amtrak-controlled Northeast Corridor assets and other Amtrak-owned infrastructure, plus the facilities and equipment that maintain them; (C) Equipment — Amtrak-controlled rolling stock, locomotives, and repair shops; (D) Stations — Amtrak-controlled stations and any parts of other stations Amtrak is responsible for or plans to invest in; and (E) National assets — things like national reservations, security, and training centers shared across Amtrak's system. (2) Each asset line plan must include at least: (A) a summary of Amtrak's 5-year strategy for that asset line, including goals and any legal requirements affecting the assets; (B) an inventory of existing capital assets, including shared ownership where relevant; (C) a ranked list of proposed capital investments that (i) sorts each project into one of five categories — normalized replacement, backlog replacement, service or growth improvements, strategic efficiency initiatives, or legally required projects — (ii) flags any project that fits more than one category, and (iii) explains each project's expected effect on passenger operations, safety, reliability, resilience, regulatory compliance, and its costs and benefits; (D) yearly sources-and-uses statements and forecasts; and (E) anything else Amtrak chooses to add. (3) To meet these requirements, Amtrak must: (A) within 180 days of the 2021 Act, get the Secretary's approval for a consultation process that has Amtrak (i) consult each service line while writing each asset line plan so the two line up, and (ii) consult the Secretary and, as needed, the Northeast Corridor Commission, the State-Supported Route Committee, and owners of affected assets; and (B) name the Amtrak officials responsible for each asset line. (4) Amtrak may change what the asset line plans must cover if the Secretary approves and finds it would improve transparency, oversight, or delivery. (5) The Secretary must evaluate the cost and scope of all national assets (not counting corporate services as defined in section 24317(b)), and decide which activities and costs are needed for efficient national operations, which should be allocated to a different Amtrak business line, and which are unnecessary or too costly for what they deliver. (6) "National assets" means the Nation's core rail assets shared across Amtrak services, like national reservations, security, and training centers. (7) Within a year of finishing that evaluation, the Federal Railroad Administration, working with the Amtrak Board, the governors of relevant states, and the Mayor of D.C. (or their designees), must restructure or reallocate national-asset costs based on what the evaluation found, updating Amtrak's accounting methods as needed. (8) Exemption: (A) On written request from the Amtrak Board, the Secretary may excuse Amtrak from including certain required information in a plan. (B) The Secretary must publicly post any such exemption and a detailed reason for it on the Department's website. (C) Amtrak must note in its plan any exemption it was granted and the reason given. (d) Standards to Promote Financial Stability — When writing these plans, Amtrak must: (1) use sound budgeting — cutting costs, improving productivity, raising revenue, or some mix of these; and (2) use the categories from the financial accounting and reporting system built under section 203 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008.