ProjectsTransportation

DOT Flooded With High-Speed Rail Requests

Demand for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants for high-speed rail far outstrips the $8 billion available. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration reported on July 16 that it had received 278 "pre-applications" for the rail grants, with applicants requesting a total of $102 billion. The department expects to award the first batch of economic-stimulus rail grants in the fall.

In another sign of the red-hot interest in the fast trains, the House Appropriations Committee on July 17 included $4 billion for high-speed rail in its fiscal 2010 transportation spending bill. That quadruples the amount President Obama requested. The regular 2010 appropriations would supplement the ARRA's $8 billion.

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood says that foreign companies already are seeking to play a part in the program.

In all, DOT said, 40 states and the District of Columbia applied. The department also says that the West showed the greatest interest, with 108 applications requesting $38 billion. There were 79 applications, seeking $35 billion. In addition, 47 pre-applications came in from the Midwest, requesting a total of $13 billion; and 44 from the South-Southeast region, totaling $16 billion.

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

Post a comment to this article

Live: June 11, 2026 at 1:00 pm CDT Fleet operations generate a massive amount of data. The real challenge is breaking down silos to turn complex metrics into a clear roadmap for smarter, faster decision making. In this webinar, we move past basic tracking to show you how the right data identifies hidden vulnerabilities and stops wasteful spending.