High Speed Rail on the Horizon
Media Contacts
Senate Measure Could Bring Network of Bullet Trains to the Midwest
WISPIRG
Madison, WI – A nationwide network of high speed bullet trains could soon be a reality thanks to bipartisan legislation introduced today by Senators Kerry (D-MA), Specter (R-PA) and at least a dozen other senators from both parties. The legislation provides two necessary components for such a system: dedicated funding and federal coordination. The legislation includes financing for federally-designated rail corridors, one of which is the Chicago hub corridor — a main segment of the Chicago corridor would run from Chicago to Minneapolis by way of Milwaukee and Madison. Senator Kohl (WI) is supportive of high-speed rail but was not a co-sponsor of this bill.
“High-speed rail would provide clean, safe, reliable and efficient travel between America’s population centers,” said Jesslyn Roebuck, the Transportation Associate with WISPIRG, the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group. “Long-term federal investment in rail would also create tens of thousands of quality jobs in states that have experienced losses in the technology, construction, and engineering sectors over the last decade.”
The High Speed Rail for America would provide close to 25 billion in competitive grants and financing over six years for high-speed intercity rail and infrastructure, including financing for the federally-designated rail corridors, one of which is the Chicago hub network high speed rail corridor. The bill also establishes a national office of high-speed rail to serve as a central communication and planning hub.
Passenger rail ridership in the U.S. increased to new records each of the last five years, and last year the total vehicle miles traveled for cars and trucks fell for the first time since the oil crisis of the 1970s. Voters in California earlier this month approved $10 billion in state funding toward development of a 220 mph route between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Meanwhile, America’s main economic competitors in Europe, Japan, Korea, and China have invested hundreds of billions to develop thriving high speed rail systems that efficiently and reliably move travelers between destinations while relieving highways and airports of congestion.
“Decades ago, America completed the interstate highway system,” said Roebuck. “Now, we face congestion on our highways and in our skies, an addiction to oil, and an overheating planet. We need legislation like the High Speed Rail for America Act to provide Americans a better way to go.”
The bill is cosponsored by a bipartisan group of Senators, including Senators Kerry, Brown, Casey, Clinton, Dodd, Feinstein, Inouye, Lautenberg, Lieberman, Menendez, Schumer, Snowe, Specter, Stabenow, Whitehouse.
