Metro will receive $34.3 million from the federal government this year to help pay for 56 new rail cars in what is the second installment of a $104 million, three-year federal funding package, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., said Tuesday.
“As Metro begins to show its age, we have a responsibility to invest in its revitalization,” Cardin said, citing the 1.2 million passengers, including many federal government workers, the system transports daily. “The latest $34.3 million for rail cars is critical, but it is not nearly enough.”
Metro is funded mainly by the Maryland, D.C. and Virginia jurisdictions it serves, with some funding coming unevenly from Congress.
The injection of federal money is designated specifically for much-needed capital improvements, such as adding new rail cars to accommodate the transit agency’s growing number of riders, and will not aid Metro in tackling the projected deficit in its operations budget.
The transit system raised its rail and bus fares Jan. 6 in the biggest increase in its 32-year history to offset the deficit.
Metro’s annual budget for capital projects is $450 million and is fully funded through 2010.
Next year’s expected $34 million from the federal government also would go toward paying off the 56 new rail cars, as well as to making improvements in power substations, Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.
The new cars are expected to be in service this summer, and officials have said that half of all rush-hour trains will be eight-car trains by early next year, as opposed to the current 20 percent.
A congressional subcommittee is considering a bill, sponsored by Cardin and other area lawmakers, that would allocate $1.5 billion to Metro over the next 10 years.
