The USD 2bn of high-speed rail funding turned down by Florida’s republican governor, Rick Scott, has been reassigned to 15 states and Amtrak for 22 different projects.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded the largest sum, USD 795M, for upgrades in the Northeast corridor, including USD 295M for Amtrak’s Harold Interlocking bypass routes in New York. In the Midwest, USD 404.1M has been awarded to build segments of 110-mph track between Detroit and Chicago, and for upgrades to the Chicago to St. Louis corridor.
California, which is leading the way for the nation’s first 220-mph (354.06-kph) high-speed rail system, will receive another USD 300M bringing the total federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project to nearly USD 3.5bn.
The new money will extend the initial Central Valley construction segment north toward Merced, funding the track and civil work from Fresno to the junction near Chowchilla, which will provide a connection to San Jose and San Francisco to the West and Merced and ultimately Sacramento to the North.
Money has gone to several projects in the engineering and environmental analysis phases: USD 5M for a high-speed intercity service connecting Minneapolis to Duluth, Minnesota; in North Carolina, USD 4M for the Richmond to Raleigh section of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor and in Texas, USD 15M for a high-speed rail connection between Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston.
Earlier this year, Scott cancelled the high-speed rail project from Orlando to Tampa that had been approved by his predecessor, Charlie Crist. U.S. transportation secretary Ray LaHood received nearly 100 applications for the money originally dedicated to the rail line.
