United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-06-25 monographic deposited born digital 42 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-756R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-756R P0b002ee180392add f:d01756r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-756R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-756R GAO-01-756R Federal aid to railroads Railroad industry Tax credit Amtrak Northeast Corridor Amtrak Northeast Corridor High-Speed Rail Program Correspondence A01406 The High-Speed Rail Investment Act of 2001 would allow the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) to issue up to $12 billion in "tax credit bonds" over 10 years, primarily for capital improvement projects designated high-speed rail corridors and on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. This report reviews the (1) cost of the bond-financing mechanism and alternatives to the U.S. Treasury, (2) degree to which bond proceeds would meet the capital needs of federally designated high-speed rail corridors, and (3) extent of the federal oversight role. GAO found that the (1) estimated tax credit for Amtrak bonds would cost the U.S. Treasury between $16.6 billion and $19.1 billion (in nominal dollars) over 30 years, (2) overall capital needs of fully developed federally designed high-speed rail corridors are unknown because these initiatives are in various stages of planning, but preliminary estimates by Amtrak puts the capital costs for fully developed high-speed rail corridors and its Northeast Corridor at between $50 billion and $70 billion over 20 years, and (3) bill provides specific responsibilities to the Departments of the Treasury and Transportation. Specifically, the Secretary of the Treasury is required to report annually on whether the amount of money in the trust account is sufficient to repay the bonds. The Department of Transportation's role is to approve projects from those selected by Amtrak prior to Amtrak's issuing the bonds. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-756R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-756R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-756R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-756R.pdf GAO-01-756R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-756R Correspondence GAO-01-756R; The High-Speed Rail Investment Act of 2001 (S. 250); Federal aid to railroads Railroad industry Tax credit Amtrak Northeast Corridor Amtrak Northeast Corridor High-Speed Rail Program