U.S. Shifts $1.2 Billion of Ohio, Wisconsin Rail Funds
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said $1.2 billion in high-speed rail funds originally designated for Wisconsin and Ohio will be redirected to states “eager” to develop faster-rail corridors.
California and Florida will be the top recipients of the money, receiving as much as $624 million and $342.3 million respectively, the Transportation Department said in a statement today. States are to receive $8 billion in rail money as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“High-speed rail will modernize America’s valuable transportation network, while invigorating the manufacturing sector and putting people back to work in good-paying jobs,” LaHood said in the statement. “I am pleased that so many other states are enthusiastic about the additional support.”
Wisconsin and Ohio elected Republican governors in November who campaigned against the rail projects. Wisconsin Governor- elect Scott Walker said he’d refuse the $810 million designated for connecting Milwaukee and Madison. Ohio’s John Kasich has said the planned Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati train would be too expensive to operate.
California’s Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the additional funds would bring federal investment in the planned San Diego-to-San Francisco network to $3.2 billion. Alstom SA, Siemens AG, East Japan Railway Co., and China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. are among companies seeking to win contracts on U.S. rail projects.
“California is leading the nation in bringing true high- speed rail to the U.S., and this award is another sign we are on the right track,” Schwarzenegger said in an e-mailed statement.
The decision leaves holes in the planned network of high- speed trains linking the Ohio cities and Minneapolis to Chicago, spurred by “anti-rail” governors, said Dan Johnson-Weinberger, a spokesman for the Midwest High Speed Rail Association.
“High-speed rail money is not a slush fund for governors to use at their pleasure,” Johnson-Weinberger said. “It’s a terrible day for the Midwest economy.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Plungis in Washington at jplungis@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bernie Kohn at Bkohn2@bloomberg.net.
Rate this Page