Obama plans high-speed rail

Working on the Railroad: Obama’s Green Pitch for High-Speed Trains Wall Street Journal — Just before taking off for Latin America, President Obama reiterated his call for the construction of a big high-speed rail network in the U.S., pitching the plan as a cure-all for employment, transport bottlenecks, and even the environment. There are plenty of reasons to support more high speed rail, but curbing greenhouse-gas emissions isn’t one of them. click to read complete article

California competitive for speed train funding San Francisco Chronicle — President Obama said this morning that he wants to help put the nation back on track by building a collection of high-speed rail systems like the 700-mile network being planned in California. "Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination," he said, announcing his high-speed rail strategic plan. "Imagine what a great project that would be to rebuild America." click to read complete article

Obama: Put Detroit on track for high-speed rail Detroit Free Press — A high-speed rail corridor through the industrial Midwest – linking Toledo, Detroit, Chicago and more – is one of the potential recipients of billions of dollars in funding in federal grants announced Thursday morning by President Barack Obama Speaking in Washington before departing on a trip to Mexico, Obama said the U.S. is putting itself at a competitive disadvantage by not embracing the potential of high speed rail to link parts of the nation, saying France, China and other countries are already ahead of us. He pledged $8 billion in funds from the stimulus bill passed by Congress this year and another $1 billion a year for five years. click to read complete article