Obama: Put Detroit on track for high-speed rail

Federal grants may help provide more transportation option
WASHINGTON – A high-speed rail corridor through the industrial Midwest – linking Toledo, Detroit, Chicago and more – is one of the potential recipients of billions of dollars in funding in federal grants announced Thursday morning by President Barack Obama.

Speaking in Washington before departing on a trip to Mexico, Obama said the U.S. is putting itself at a competitive disadvantage by not embracing the potential of high speed rail to link parts of the nation, saying France, China and other countries are already ahead of us. He pledged $8 billion in funds from the stimulus bill passed by Congress this year and another $1 billion a year for five years.

“I know Americans love their cars and no one’s talking about replacing the automobile,” said Obama “But this is something that can be done.”

The White House replaced a plan for funding investment in high speed rail, identifying 10 corridors which could receive federal funding. Among them are:

• A Chicago Hub network, which Obama called “something close to my heart” in reference to his adopted hometown, linking much of Midwest, including Toledo and Detroit with Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky.

• A California corridor, from Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area to Los Angeles and San Diego.

• A Southeast corridor, linking Washington. D.C., with Atlanta and Jacksonville, Fla., and other points along the way.

• A northern New England corridor, from Boston to Montreal but with links to Portland, Maine; New Haven, Conn., and elsewhere.

Other corridors include those designated in the Pacific Northwest; in the south central United States; along the Gulf Coast; through Florida; across Pennsylvania; and from New York City to Buffalo, N.Y.

There is also a chance the existing northeast corridor running from Washington, D.C. north to Boston could receive additional funding through the program.

Obama said the idea is to get states and local communities to put together plans for networks of 100- to 600-mile-long corridors, which will compete for the federal dollars. The federal grants could begin going out as early as September.

Said Obama, in a prepared statement: “My high-speed rail proposal will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America. We must start developing clean, energy-efficient transportation that will define our regions for centuries to come.”

He also said it could create thousands of construction jobs over many years.

“High-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways,” he said.

The first round of grants is expected to focus on projects that can be completed quickly, creating jobs quickly. Those programs might include improvements which would take lines where train speeds are already 70 miles per hour and increase them to over 100 m.p.h. The following rounds of funding would then help fund proposals for comprehensive high-speed programs along the identified corridors.

Enthusiasm has been growing in recent months among people pushing for high-speed rail corridors in the U.S., though exactly what would qualify under that description – and how far government funding would go toward making it a reality – is a moving target.

A law passed last year defines high-speed rail as trains that go 110 m.p.h. or more. In the U.S., Acela trains are the fastest – reaching 150 m.p.h. for a short distance in the Washington-to-Boston Amtrak corridor – but average between 68 m.p.h. and 82 m.p.h., according the Government Accountability Office.

That’s a lot slower than the trains in Europe and Asia which routinely travel at 150 or even 200 m.p.h.

Getting up to those speeds in the U.S. would cost tens of billions of dollars or possibly a whole lot more than that, requiring new tracks to be laid and new property to be acquired separate from lines for slower moving freight trains or passenger service.

California’s proposed 800-mile system, for instance, is expected to cost about $45 billion – far more than all the investment proposed by the Obama administration.

But the federal government program would provide some seed money at least. And making improvements on the Detroit-to-Chicago line that would allow trains to go 110 m.p.h. – and cutting the time needed for the 280-mile trip from about six hours to four – could be far less expensive, with some reports pegging the price at about $1 billion.

Contact TODD SPANGLER at 202-906-8203 or at tspangler@freepress.com. Gannett Washington bureau reporter Raju Chebium contributed to this story.

By TODD SPANGLER • FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF • April 16, 2009
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Do you think the U.S. should invest in a high-speed rail system?

Who do you think would use it the most (business travelers, tourists, commuters, etc)?

What are the benefits and drawbacks of building this rail system?

Why is Detroit a significant participant in the discussion about transportation in the U.S.?

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