by Jbs060710c3 — June 9, 2010—The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on May 27 that it has delivered nearly $80 million in grants to five states as part of President Obama’s High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program, according to news from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
The bulk of the funds—$66.6 million—will go towards program management and preliminary engineering on a planned high-speed rail service in Florida, running between Tampa and Orlando. The project will include 84 miles of track and will feature trains running at 168 miles per hour (mph).
Grants were also delivered to California, for track relocation work in support of a high-speed rail line connecting San Francisco and Sacramento; to Wisconsin, for environmental assessments of planned new stations on a 110-mph rail line between Milwaukee and Madison; and to New York State, for the planning of projects to increase the speed of the Empire Corridor to 110 mph. The 468-mile Empire Corridor connects all of New York’s largest cities.
In addition, New Mexico will receive a grant to create the state’s first-ever rail plan, the first step in a project that could eventually link all the major cities in the Southwest. With the exception of New Mexico, all of the projects also received a share of $8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds that were announced in late January.
