President Donald Trump said Monday that a deadly train derailment in Washington state made the case for Congress to quickly approve of his “soon to be submitted” infrastructure plan just months after he submitted a plan that slashed federal funding to the country’s rail system.
The president called for a boost to infrastructure funding Monday, a few hours after authorities first started investigating the fatal crash about 60 miles southwest of Seattle.
Amtrak Cascades Train 501 was traveling between Seattle and Portland, Oregon, when it derailed around 7:45 a.m. Monday on an Interstate 5 overpass near DuPont, Washington. At least three people died and more than 70 others were injured.
“The train accident that just occurred in Dupont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly,” Trump said Monday morning in a tweet. “Seven trillion dollar spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!”
Trump's tweet came seven months after his administration submitted an infrastructure plan that would cut rail funding as part of its 2018 budget proposal, according to Time magazine. The proposal included limited funding for new lines or expansions and lower subsidies for rural routes, according to Time.
The proposed $16.2 billion budget for discretionary transportation spending would cut transportation funding by 13 percent, including a $630 million cut to subsidies for long-distance Amtrak routes, The Washington Post reported in May.
Sean Jeans-Gail, vice president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, told The Post what he saw in the proposed budget.
“I’m just looking at the smoking wreckage,” he said.
It was not immediately clear whether an increase in infrastructure spending would have had any impact on Monday's derailment. The Associated Press reported that the span of tracks where the train derailed Monday had just been upgraded as part of a $181 million project.
KIRO7 reported the train was on its inaugural run on the Point Defiance Bypass route, which shaved 10 minutes off the transit time between Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
Officials continue to investigate the cause of Monday’s derailment.
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