TESTIMONY: Ted Alves April 29, 2010 Testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee

Amtrak has made considerable progress positioning itself to meet the challenges it faces to compete effectively in this new era of intercity passenger rail. The intercity passenger rail system includes the long distance routes, High Speed Rail corridors, state sponsored corridors, and the Northeast Corridor (NEC). Accomplishments include completing a new strategic guidance, a five year financial plan, and a long-range fleet plan. Although FY 2009 saw a decline in ridership and revenue from FY 2008 as the economy continued to struggle, both ridership and ticket revenues came in at the second highest level in company history. The last several months have also seen sustained increases in passengers and revenue.