Obama to Announce High-Speed Rail Plan Post-Speech

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Here is a link to the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/27...-Rail.html?_r=1

Wonder which 13 will get the funding, and what can be done with it.
I just hope it doesn't turn out that all we pay is consultants to study the corridors. It seems like we as a nation just love to spend money on consultants do do lovely presentations and charts and graphs, then don't spend the money to get things to move.
Let's hope so for sure! There are more Lobbyists in Washington than officials, and in an election year the political suits will be sniffing around the trough like flies around honey! Perhaps the Prez will listen to Amtrak Joe on this, we all know that political considerations will weigh heavily in this matter but getting people to work that actually do real work as opposed to shuffling paper and doing power point presentations is a must!Doubt if my state will get any due to the political climate down here but good luck to those that do! :)
 
An article I read several days ago quoted an insider saying that most of the money is going to projects with completed studies. With the economy/jobs being the #1 issue in America, I think Obama will want this money being spent as soon as possible.

UPDATE: This is the article I read.

Some industry experts expect the biggest recipients to be states that have already invested heavily in rail and whose projects are closest to the construction phase.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes, some of the funds will go to studies, because you need to do that before you decide where and what to build. But with $8 billion to distribute and since this is supposed to be about jobs, much of the funding will go to upgrading or building new tracks.

The good news for Amtrak is the that AP article states "Overall, 31 states will receive funds." So the $8 billion will be split between a few big projects and a bunch of smaller projects to spread the funds around the states. Which is what most expected.

Most of the smaller projects submitted by the states were for projects that would benefit existing or extend Amtrak service. For example, Maine is likely to get some of the funding to extend the Downeaster and to upgrade the existing track for faster travel times between Boston and Portland. Virginia submitted a $1.75 billion Track 2 application for upgrading the rail corridor from DC to Richmond to Petersburg. But Virginia also submitted a $75 million Track 1 application for adding a 3rd track to and upgrading 11 miles of the line between Fredericksburg and DC which will help reduce bottlenecks for the 9 Amtrak trains a day that take that line - and VRE as well. If Virginia does not get the $1.75 billion, hopefully they will get the $75 million as the consolation funds for the next incremental step in upgrading the RF&P line.
 
I would think that the CA map would mean some funding for the state HSR up the SJ Valley as well as some funding to improve (maybe add service) on the Starlight route.

Just my speculation.
 
31 states - that sounds promising! I don't think 31 states fund Amtrak, so I'm going to be more than a little disappointed if that many states receive funding and Vermont, which contributes the highest per capita of any state for Amtrak service, doesn't see a dime. Really hoping for the Ethan Allen extension, but I'd really be happy with any improvements around here.
 
Illinois update posted on ChicagoBreakingNews.com:

Illinois stands to receive far less money than it had expected from the Obama administration on Thursday to begin developing high-speed passenger trains and transform rail service as the preferred transportation option.
State officials were hoping that the state would be awarded grants totaling at least $2 billion to operate 110 mph trains between Chicago and other Midwestern cities, starting with St. Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities.

But congressional sources who were briefed on the White House's plan said funding to the state will fall short.
 
Illinois update posted on ChicagoBreakingNews.com:
Illinois stands to receive far less money than it had expected from the Obama administration on Thursday to begin developing high-speed passenger trains and transform rail service as the preferred transportation option.
State officials were hoping that the state would be awarded grants totaling at least $2 billion to operate 110 mph trains between Chicago and other Midwestern cities, starting with St. Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities.

But congressional sources who were briefed on the White House's plan said funding to the state will fall short.

Politics and nimbys are going to destroy this country
 
It's curious how the California section of that map includes the coastal route as well as the HSR plan that we voted for.
And Vegas is on there, very cool.
I see that, a very straight line from LA to Vegas. I couldn't enlarge the map, so it's hard to tell what towns and cities that impacts.
 
Here are my guesses....

1 - Florida for Orlando to Tampa Corridor.

2- NEC NYP-WAS

3- NEC NYP-BOS

4- California Project

5- Nevada for Las Vegas to LA/Anaheim.

6- IL for CHI-St.Louis Corridor

7- WI for CHI-Milwalkee Corridor

8- MO for St. Louis-Kansas City Corridor

9- VA for Regionals

10- PA for Keystone Improvement/Expansion

11- NC for Charlotte-Raleigh

12- WA for Cascades

13- This one is up in the air... couldn't decide.

Thought it was fun to guess....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Here are my guesses....
1 - Florida for Orlando to Tampa Corridor.

2- NEC NYP-WAS

3- NEC NYP-BOS

4- California Project

5- Nevada for Las Vegas to LA/Anaheim.

6- IL for CHI-St.Louis Corridor

7- WI for CHI-Milwalkee Corridor

8- MO for St. Louis-Kansas City Corridor

9- VA for Regionals

10- PA for Keystone Improvement/Expansion

11- NC (not sure where)

12- WA for Cascades

13- This one is up in the air... couldn't decide.

Thought it was fun to guess....
The Kansas City Star's "PrimeBuzz" political blog is reporting that Missouri and Illinois will both be receiving funding, but not at the levels requested. Senator Kit Bond confirmed that Missouri will be reciving funds, but would not provide additional details.

http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/21153
 
It's curious how the California section of that map includes the coastal route as well as the HSR plan that we voted for.
And Vegas is on there, very cool.
I see that, a very straight line from LA to Vegas. I couldn't enlarge the map, so it's hard to tell what towns and cities that impacts.
The official HSR route map put out by the Transportation department does not reflect the planned route of the California HSR system and the rough outline of the Texas T-bone. Take it as a idea map where the HSR corridors of the US are, not as a map that bears much resemblance to the reality where the HSR tracks might go. The California HSR plan route map can be found at http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/map.htm. While there is a privately funded plan to build a corridor train from Victorville, CA to Las Vegas, a Victorville end point with no train connection to LA is a questionable business plan. If the CA HSR system gets built according to their map, a obvious extension to the CA HSR system would be to build a line from Palmdale to Las Vegas. Imagine people being able to get on a 220 mph train in LA and taking a direct train to Las Vegas so they can lose their money in the casinos even sooner. :ph34r:

But a HSR line to Las Vegas is not going to be started with the current round of HSR funds. The main parts of the CA HSR system have to be funded and built first.
 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch just posted an article with numbers. Is this the real deal?

California is one of the big winners, receiving $2.25 billion to help build a high-speed rail system, as well as additional money for other rail projects.
The grants include $1.1 billion for a Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor, $1.25 billion for a Tampa-to-Orlando, Fla., corridor, $244 million for a Chicago-to-Detroit corridor and $810 million for work between Madison, Wis., and Milwaukee. In Ohio, $400 million will pay for work between Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Washington and North Carolina are getting roughly half a billion dollars each, and Florida will hear its good news directly from Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stor...3F?OpenDocument
 
Any idea where we can find this information after the speech is done?
Many of the details will likely be made available to the news media overnight or by early morning before the President makes the announcement in Florida. Then a official press release will be posted, but just how detailed the initial press information will be on which projects and states get funding remains to be seen.

But don't expect too much funding of the $8 billion to go to the NEC itself. The NEC Master Plan has to be finished and published first.
 
Back
Top