Obama Announces High Speed Rail for DC

At the last minute, funding for high speed rail projects were included in the stimulus package. Eight billion dollars plus an additional $1 billion/year for the next five years, to be exact.

Today, the President presented his strategic plan for high speed rail in America. In his speech, he pointed out that high speed rail is common in many other countries and that it provides travelers with the most convenient path from one metropolitan area to the other.

The President also highlighted the environmental benefits of high speed rail saying,

With high-speed rail system, we’re going to be able to pull people off the road, lowering our dependence on foreign oil, lowering the bill for our gas in our gas tanks.  We’re going to loosen the congestion that also has great impact on productivity, I might add, the people sitting at stop lights right now in overcrowded streets and cities.  We’re also going to deal with the suffocation that’s taking place in our major metropolitan areas as a consequence of that congestion.  And we’re going to significantly lessen the damage to our planet.  This is a giant environmental down payment.

Washington will benefit from the expansion of high speed rail on several different fronts.

The existing high speed rail connecting Boston and DC, the Northeast Corridor, will compete for funds for additional improvements and expansion. Plus, a high speed rail route will be installed that links DC to the Southeast and the Gulf Coast.

These new lines and updates to old lines will eventually put DC in the center of the largest high speed rail route in the country, running from northern New England to Texas’ Gulf coast.

To read the President’s remarks, visit the White House’s blog. Below is a graphic depicting the new high speed rail lines.