Friday, May 28, 2010

Federal HSR dollars delivered to Wisconsin

The FRA announced yesterday that nearly $80 million, of the $8 billion allocated to high speed rail, was distributed to states. As far as the Midwest is concerned, Wisconsin received "$5,700,000 for environmental assessments of planned new stations on the route between Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin that will host passenger rail service operating at speeds up to 110mph."

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

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Friday, May 14, 2010

Local student wins Amtrak Video Contest

Congrats to DePaul student, Paul Hennessey, who's music video won Amtrak's "best original train travel-related video" contest. Paul's video and the 2nd place entry can be seen below. On a separate note, kudos to Amtrak on the good looking user interface of this video player.

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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Sect LaHood on Japanese HSR test track

Yesterday, May 11th, Secretary LaHood experienced 312 mph on the test track of a Japanese maglev train. The secretary voiced the U.S. government's commitment to further developing passenger rail, while creating jobs at home.

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$4 Billion for HSR in 2011

Our own Rick Harnish was on hand yesterday in Washington DC to support the call for the federal government to dedicate $4 billion towards high speed rail in 2011 and beyond. Please visit FourBillion.com to easily ask your legislators to support this measure.

photo courtesy of Transportation For America


*official press release

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Saturday, May 08, 2010

National Train Day in Chicago and Amtrak's CEO

Today was National Train Day across the country and here in Chicago. A commitment from IL Gov Pat Quinn to HSR in the Midwest, flowing through Chicago, and strong attendance marked the day's event at Union Station -- see below


Meanwhile, this past Thursday, May 6th, Amtrak CEO, Joseph Boardman appeared on Fox Business to reaffirm Amtrak's role in the national transportation landscape.

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