By Ron Thaniel
February 14, 2011

Vice President Joe Biden announced on February 8 a bold plan that will help the nation reach President Obama’s goal of giving 80 percent of all Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years, as outlined in his State of the Union address, and lay the groundwork for long term infrastructure investments needed to “Win the Future.”

“As President Obama said in his State of the Union, there are key places where we cannot afford to sacrifice as a nation – one of which is infrastructure,” said Biden. “As a long time Amtrak rider and advocate, I understand the need to invest in a modern rail system that will help connect communities, reduce congestion and create quality, skilled manufacturing jobs that cannot be outsourced. This plan will help us to do that, while also increasing access to convenient high-speed rail for more Americans.”

The proposal would dedicate $53 billion over six years, through the reauthorization of the federal surface transportation law, to continue construction of a national high-speed and intercity passenger rail network. The proposal states that high-speed rail investments would be placed on equal footing with other surface transportation modes – a priority for The U.S. Conference of Mayors. The Conference of Mayors has had a long'standing interest in high-speed rail. Mayors know that high-speed rail will improve America’s transportation infrastructure while also laying the groundwork for a brighter economic and sustainable future for cities and their metropolitan areas across the United States.

Biden made the announcement in Philadelphia with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and Conference of Mayors 2nd Vice President Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

Biden told the large audience of elected officials and transportation stakeholders that the President’s Budget, which will be released February 14, would invest $8 billion in high-speed passenger rail service that would focus investments on developing or improving three types of interconnected corridors:

• Core Express: These corridors will form the backbone of the national high-speed rail system, with electrified trains traveling on dedicated tracks at speeds of 125-250 mph or higher.

• Regional: Crucial regional corridors with train speeds of 90-125 mph will see increases in trips and reductions in travel times, laying the foundation for future high-speed service.

• Emerging: Trains traveling at up to 90 mph will provide travelers in emerging rail corridors with access to the larger national high-speed and intercity passenger rail network.

High-Speed and intercity passenger rail programs will be consolidated into two new accounts: a $4 billion account for network development, focused on building new infrastructure, stations, and equipment; and a $4 billion account for system preservation and renewals, which will maintain state of good repair on Amtrak and other publicly-owned assets.

“In America, we pride ourselves on dreaming big and building big,” said LaHood. “This historic investment in America’s high-speed rail network keeps us on track toward economic opportunity and competitiveness in the 21st century. It’s an investment in tomorrow that will create manufacturing, construction, and operations jobs today.”

Conference of Mayors “2011 Metro Agenda for America” calls for dedicated funding for high-speed intercity passenger rail - equal to the investment made a half-century ago building the Interstate Highway System.

January 2011 is the 15th straight month of ridership growth for Amtrak and also the best January on record with 2,126,429 passengers. This strong performance is part of a long-term trend that has seen Amtrak set annual ridership records in seven of the last eight fiscal years, including more than 28.7 million passengers in FY 2010. There was a 4.6 percent increase in riders in January 2011 vs. January 2010, or nearly 94,000 more passengers.