BERGEN RECORD

IN the midst of the economic crisis and the attempt to approve the Wall Street bailout, little attention has been paid to another rescue plan of sorts: a long-awaited federal commitment to Amtrak.

Last week, Congress gave final approval to a railroad funding and safety bill that President Bush is expected to sign. It is a major victory for mass transit and a lifeline for Amtrak, which has languished for years on stopgap subsidies and faced neglect, if not outright hostility, from the White House.

The bill directly benefits thousands of North Jersey commuters, since NJ Transit trains share the tracks into New York City with Amtrak. It provides $13 billion over five years for Amtrak and requires that the Northeast Corridor, from Boston to Washington, D.C., be maintained in a "state of good repair." Those improvements and upgrades will be eagerly awaited by frustrated commuters.

Much of the credit for the bill's approval and the switch in Congress to far greater support for rail service belongs to Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., a chief sponsor who has championed the measure and fought hard all along for its passage.

He understands the need for Congress to move toward greater emphasis on funding for mass transit and away from the emphasis on the cars that clog our highways, pollute our air and increase the demand for oil. Lautenberg has said in the past that Amtrak trains are "17 percent more energy-efficient than airlines and 21 percent more than cars and trucks."

Federal funding has long been heavily skewed toward highways over public transportation, including railroads. This year, however, in the face of rising gas prices, ridership on Amtrak and commuter lines has increased sharply.

All those riders who have left their cars in the driveway and taken the train back Lautenberg up.

Now it becomes all the more evident how far the United States lags behind other countries that have invested and modernized their rail systems, viewing them as a public benefit instead of a drain on the Treasury.

The bill also includes safety provisions, such as limits on the work hours of rail crews, additional safety inspectors and a requirement for technology that stops a train and prevents collisions.

The measure also gives major regulatory power to New Jersey to control environmental and public health hazards from Meadowlands garbage transfer stations owned by railroads. The issue had been the subject of court battles between the railroads and the state.

The next stage in the battle to strengthen rail and mass transit use ? and decrease reliance on fossil fuels that cause carbon emissions ? will take place next year with a new president. Republican John McCain has opposed federal funding for Amtrak, while Democrat Barack Obama strongly supports it.

It's ironic that it's in the final months of his presidency that Bush could be signing into law a major boost for Amtrak.

In railroad parlance, after eight years of delay, the train is finally leaving the station.