ELPC Applauds $2.5 Billion High-Speed Rail Appropriation
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ELPC APPLAUDS $2.5 BILLION HIGH-SPEED RAIL APPROPRIATION
CHICAGO, December 15, 2009 — The Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) today issued a statement applauding Sunday’s final passage of Fiscal Year 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Conference Report, the transportation appropriation containing $2.5 billion for high-speed passenger rail.
Howard Learner, executive director of ELPC, and the organization have studied high speed rail for 15 years. Mr. Learner is nationally recognized for thought leadership on the environmental and societal benefits of fast train transportation and its ability to promote economic development.
“Investment in high-speed rail will create good jobs and revitalize American rail manufacturing, helping the nation move from recovery to prosperity,” Learner said. “High-speed rail is the most practical, environmentally responsible and energy efficient way to transport people safely and comfortably over moderate distances.
“We strongly urge Congress to enable the regions of our nation to unleash their economic power by funding high-speed rail, which will put people back to work and help ensure the future health of our planet.”
The $1.1 trillion dollar spending bill was sent to the President’s desk Sunday. The high-speed rail allocation is in addition to the $8 billion for high-speed rail included by President Obama in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Administration’s total commitment to high-speed rail currently stands at $10.5 billion, with an additional $1 billion per year pledged to be included in the budget for the next 4 years.
The House transportation committee has also recommended including $50 billion for high-speed rail development in the upcoming transportation reauthorization.
January 7th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
I’m curious….what are the proposed routes for
the high-speed rail project?
January 7th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
You can view a map of the Midwest high-speed rail network here
http://elpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/midwesthighspeedrailmapmar2009.pdf
All the federally recognized high-speed rail corridors are shown here
http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/203
January 9th, 2010 at 12:04 am
The movement towards high speed rail is certainly good news. Long overdue. Now if Indiana can get on board the rail movement and off of I-69.