WH: $2 Billion for High Speed Rail

CNN reports:

Rail riders along the California coast and the Boston-Washington "Northeast Corridor" are set to reap much of the benefits from $2 billion that Florida policymakers had earlier rejected for high-speed rail development.

The Obama administration on Monday announced the reallocated funding, part of its push to spur environmentally friendly transportation and modernize the nation's infrastructure that's supported partly by the 2009 economic stimulus package.

Fifteen states and Amtrak will receive the money to back 22 high-speed intercity passenger rail projects. Among other things, the funds will be used to improve speed and service in the Northeast, add faster rail lines in the Midwest and help spur more efficient train service between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Nearly $300 million will be spent to reduce major delays for trains coming in and out of Manhattan -- the nation's busiest passenger rail junction. Within the next four years, high-speed rail advocate Petra Todorovich estimated trains between New York and Philadelphia will routinely move at 160 mph because of a host of upgrades aimed at improving "train speeds, capacity and reliability."

While billed as new funding, the money actually is previously pledged funds being directed to new recipients. Soon after taking office, Florida Gov. Rick Scott cited expected cost overruns and long-term operating costs for his call to block federal funding for an 84-mile-long high-speed rail line that would link Tampa and Orlando.

Days after the Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling that allowed the Republican government to reject the federal money, the U.S. Transportation Department opened up a process to solicit fresh bids from other states and entities.

It is all part of the $53 billion that the White House has proposed spending over the next six years to promote high-speed rail -- an initiative facing a chilly reception in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.