Obama's Vision for US High-Speed Rail Network

On April 16th, President Obama, with US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood at his side, called for $13 billion to be spent in an effort to launch a “new era” of high-speed passenger rail transportation. The announcement coincided with the release of the US Department of Transportation’s High Speed Rail Strategic Plan. The Obama administration has called for $8 billion to come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and go to states for upgrading existing passenger rail lines, while laying the groundwork high-speed rail projects. President Obama said he would seek to budget $5 billion more over the next five years for high-speed rail. The administration has also identified 10 rail corridors which will receive this high speed rail investment, featured in the picture to the left of this post. Among these corridors is the Amtrak-operated Keystone Corridor, which runs from Philadelphia, through Harrisburg, to Pittsburgh.


Many comparisons have been drawn between President Obama’s vision for a national high-speed rail system and President Eisenhower’s push for the interstate highway system 50 years ago. The US DOT High Speed Rail Strategic Plan, notes that strong public sector leadership and private sector partnership were instrumental in the development of the national interstate and aviation networks in the 20th century. However, both of these travel systems face mounting congestion, and combined, they represent roughly 70% of our nation’s oil demand and contribute 28% of our greenhouse gas emissions. The plan acknowledges that highway and aviation travel are indispensable forms of transportation, but a new approach to solving our nation’s transportation problems, which incorporates the economic, environmental, and energy challenges into its planning, is needed.


The answer, according to the administration, is a high-speed passenger rail network of 100 to 600 mile intercity corridors that connects metropolitan regions across the U.S. Establishing high-speed commuter rail in these corridors promotes the “Smart Growth” approach to community investment, leading to higher density development in urban communities. High-speed rail is also much more environmentally friendly and energy efficient, as the US Department of Energy 2007 Transportation Energy Data Book notes that even the modest commuter rail network consumes one-third less energy per passenger mile than automobiles. The initial $8 billion jump start from the ARRA is merely the beginning of what will be a long-term commitment from both the state and the federal level. The US DOT strategic plan is also just the first step in elaborating the President’s high-speed rail corridor vision, to be followed by the President’s FY 2010 budget, the National Rail Plan called for by Congress, and discussions over future surface transportation legislation. To read the entire High Speed Rail Strategic Plan, click here.