Of the almost $30 billion that has been officially announced for investments in the railroad system in the United States, $8.2 billion has been granted for high-speed rail and other projects throughout the country through two grant programs that will be funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
$8.2 Billion Granted for High-Speed Rail and Other Projects in the United States
The Federal Railroad Administration of the Department of Transportation of the United States has awarded $8.2 billion for ten passenger railroad projects in nine states across the country; while 69 corridors across 44 states through the Corridor Identification and Development Program have been identified for future development or improvement in order to drive the expansion of intercity passenger railroads throughout the country.
“This unprecedented investment in America’s nationwide intercity passenger rail network builds on a $16.4 billion investment announced last month for 25 projects of national significance along America’s busiest rail corridor”, according to this official announcement that was released on Friday, December 8, 2023. “This inaugural round of selections aims to upgrade 15 existing rail routes, add or extend service on 47 new routes, and advance 7 new high-speed rail projects, creating a pipeline of intercity passenger rail projects ready for implementation and future investment. FRA will work closely with states, transportation agencies, host and operating railroads, and local governments to develop and build passenger rail projects faster than ever before.”
Selected projects that have been officially announced through the Federal State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program will advance two high-speed railroad corridors and fund improvements to existing railroad corridors for expanded service and performance. These investments are expected to:
- Help deliver high-speed rail service in the Central Valley of California
- Create a brand new high-speed rail corridor between Las Vegas and Southern California that will serve an estimated 11 million passengers annually
- Implement major upgrades to existing conventional railroad corridors to better connect Northern Virginia and the Southeastern United States with the Northeast Corridor
- Expand and add frequencies to the Keystone Corridor in Pennsylvania between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
- Extend the Piedmont Corridor in North Carolina northwards into Virginia as part of a higher-speed connection between Raleigh and Richmond
- Invest in Union Station in Chicago as an initial step toward future improvements to the critical Midwest corridors hub
- Improve service in Maine, Montana, and Alaska
- New high-speed railroad service in the Cascadia High-Speed Rail Corridor between Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia
- New high-speed railroad service between Dallas and Houston
- New and upgraded Midwest Chicago hub corridors:
- Daily, multi-frequency service from Chicago to Indianapolis
- Increased frequencies from Chicago to Milwaukee to the Twin Cities, with an extension to Madison in Wisconsin
- Improved service and increased frequencies from Chicago to Detroit, with an extension to Windsor, providing a direct connection to the high-speed rail network in Canada
- A comprehensive plan for the Chicago terminal and service chokepoints south of Lake Michigan benefiting all corridors and long-distance trains south and east of Chicago
- New service in Minnesota between the Twin Cities and Duluth
- New service in Colorado from Fort Collins to Pueblo, with intermediate stops at Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs
- New service in Arizona between Phoenix and Tucson with multiple daily frequencies
- New service in Louisiana connecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans
- New connections between the Northeast Corridor and Northern Delaware and Reading and Scranton, Pennsylvania
- Expanded connections and increased frequencies within the extensive conventional railroad network of California
- Expanded connections and service in the intercity railroad network in Florida between the key travel markets of Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami
- New service between Atlanta and Savannah; and from Atlanta to Nashville and Memphis via Chattanooga
- Restoration of service between Chicago and Seattle through multiple rural communities in North Dakota and Montana that are currently not served by passenger rail
Final Boarding Call
$5 billion has already been granted through the Airport Terminals Program from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to provide competitive grants for terminal development projects that address the aging infrastructure of airports in the United States. An interactive list of the 85 airports which will receive financial aid from the first round of funding was custom created in this article here at The Gate With Brian Cohen for your convenience.
I believe that a network of high-speed railroad lines will ultimately benefit the United States. The problem with railroad lines in general is that they can be difficult and costly to modify if necessary because their flexibility is generally limited when compared to other modes of transportation…
…but more viable alternatives are needed to commercial aviation in the United States in order to offer more choices for consumers. Passengers currently do not need to arrive at a train station three hours prior to departure and be screened through a security checkpoint — although that could always change in the future. Also, travel from a train station that is centrally located in a city is significantly more convenient than first having to travel out to an airport to catch a flight. Traveling by high-speed railroad is currently only possible in a few areas of the United States that are served by either Amtrak or Brightline; and the maximum speed of the trains can reach as high as 160 miles per hour.
Magnetic levitation trains which serve Shanghai in China can achieve a top speed of 431 kilometers per hour or 268 miles per hour. I wonder if the United States can benefit from them — especially for long-distance travel.
What would have been nice is if the technology known as an evacuated tube transport system that was supposedly being developed almost nine years ago became a reality. Imagine a form of transportation capable of transporting you from New York to Los Angeles in only 45 minutes or New York to Beijing in only two hours.
Is the Federal Railroad Administration on the right track? What do you think would be the answer to improving transportation in the United States? Let your imagination run wild — even if your thoughts seem impossible to implement, as that can lead to conjuring real ideas…
All photographs ©2014, ©2017, and ©2019 by Brian Cohen.
