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House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica took Amtrak to task in a field hearing Thursday (January 27) in New York City, saying the passenger rail agency “will never be capable” of running a true high-speed service in the congested Northeast Corridor.

Taking testimony in New York’s Grand Central Station, Mica said “this 437-mile stretch of incredibly valuable real estate” is an example of the government wasting federal assets.

Mica has been a critic of President Obama’s expansion of Amtrak under the high-speed rail grants program.

Joseph Boardman, president and CEO of Amtrak and the former Bush-appointed head of the Federal Railroad Administration, disagreed with Mica’s approach.

The full story is on the Journal of Commerce website.