Obama urges $53 billion for U.S. HSR

Written by jrood

President Obama is advocating a six-year, $53 billion investment in high speed rail (HSR) as part of his thrust to use infrastructure spending to create jobs. The President will call for an initial $8 billion HSR investment in the budget he is set to release next week. barack-obama-thumbs-up.jpgIn his State of the Union address last month, the President said he hoped to created HSR access to 80% of all Americans within a 25-year period. Should the divided Congress approve Obama's budget, the initial rail spending would focus on developing or improving trains that travel up to 150 miles per hour, and connecting existing rail lines to new projects. Republicans control the House of Representatives, while Democrats hold a small majority of Senate seats. Critics of the President say the current U.S. HSR initiative, which includes higher-speed rail (HrSR) projects, say the current program is too scattered among many projects, most of them not truly HSR in nature. But others counter that choosing a single U.S. HSR project, regardless of location, would be a huge political gamble, allowing rail opponents to focus relentlessly on a single target. Speaking at Amtrak's 30th Street Station in Philadelphia Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden outlined three channels of development. "Core Express" will develop electrified trains operating at 125 mph to 250 mph, running on tracks dedicated to passenger service. "Regional" will develop 90 mph to 125 mph service (HrSR), an incremental step toward true HSR. "Emerging" will develop reliable train service in regions that are underserved, increasing access to the larger national intercity passenger rail network. The President's proposal received support Tuesday in a joint statement from U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue andAFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka. Also praising the measure was the National Association of Railroad Passengers. "It is extremely heartening that the White House has the clarity of vision to propose this groundbreaking program in the face of recent narrowly-based attacks on high speed rail in the U.S.," said NARP President Ross Capon. "If we are to develop a modern transportation system that gives Americans the travel choices they need and cut our reliance on foreign oil, we need our leaders to show this steadfast determination to get the job done."  

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