COURIER POST

WASHINGTON - President Bush today signed into law a bill to provide billions of dollars to boost passenger rail safety and strengthen Amtrak, including upgrades to the Northeast Corridor.

The legislation, pushed by New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, would allocate $1.6 billion for rail safety, renew and expand the Federal Railroad Administration, and invest nearly $13 billion over the next five years to expand and upgrade passenger rail in the U.S.

Of that $13 billion, Amtrak would get about $1.6 billion a year - $300 million more than what it now receives - for operations and capital projects like replacing tracks and repairing tunnels. States would also receive funding to improve passenger rail service between cities.

Additionally, the bill contains a provision pushed by Republicans to open up the Northeast Corridor to private competition. Specifically, the measure would allow the transportation secretary to invite bids from private companies to build new high-speed rail tracks alongside existing ones in the Northeast and other well-traveled corridors.

The measure, which passed Congress by veto-proof majorities, authorizes spending levels. Congress would have to pass a separate appropriations bill to set and provide the actual funding.

?People are tired of sitting in traffic, paying high prices at the pump and waiting in long lines at airports,? Lautenberg said in a statement. ?New Jersey commuters depend on Amtrak?s Northeast Corridor every day, and this law will make sure our trains run more smoothly and reliably. Our law also modernizes railroad operations for the safety of commuters and workers and decreases risk with smarter regulation and new technology.?

Some of the other provisions in the measure call for:

- Reforms such as better financial planning at Amtrak

- A plan to repair and improve the Northeast Corridor's infrastructure by 2018

- Strengthening states' regulatory authority over trackside waste dumps - a point of contention between New Jersey and the federal government.