House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) has outlined a proposal that essentially would transfer the responsibility to develop high-speed rail (HSR) on the Northeast Corridor from Amtrak to the private sector. Amtrak wants to keep control over the route and last September proposed its own $117-billion, 30-year HSR plan.
Mica says his proposal, which he unveiled at a May 26 hearing, would let public-private partnerships design, build, operate, maintain and finance high-speed passenger service along the corridor from Washington, D.C., to Boston. He says his plan would be finished in 10 years—much faster than Amtrak’s proposal—and would be done “at a fraction of the cost.”