Congressional Subcommittee meets in Chicago to discuss HSR

The Congressional Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials met yesterday at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago to discuss the high-speed intercity passenger rail grants that were recently awarded under the stimulus act and the impact the grants will have on the region. Among the notable attendees were:

• Wisconsin Gov Jim Doyle reiterated the positive effect that HSR projects will have on Wisconsin's construction, engineering, and design & supply industries. Gov Doyle's testimony can be found here.
  
• Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky stated that rail funding would create more than 57,000 jobs, while making a long neglected national investment in rail transportation.
• Illinois Congressman Dan Lipinski said Amtrak and Metra users should notice a difference in commuter times within two years.
• Our own Rick Harnish testified on the importance of 220 mph service.
  
• FRA Administrator Joe Szabo's testimony can be found here.

*After the hearing, Administrator Szabo stated that Positive Train Control, which under federal mandate must be implemented by 2015, could have prevented the tragic accident in University Park.
"Positive train control is probably the most significant safety initiative in the history of railroading and certainly something that would have the ability to prevent a tragedy like this,''

Cabinet Members travel in support of HSR

From the White House: Office of the Press Secretary

Obama Administration officials are traveling across the country this week to announce funding for the high speed rail projects and discuss how this investment will create local jobs and rebuild the economy.
Today:

• EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will travel to Durham, North Carolina,
• Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis will visit Columbus, Ohio and
• Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood will hold an event in Washington, DC,
• Executive Director of the White House Council on Auto Communities and Workers Ed Montgomery will visit St. Louis, Missouri and
• Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo will be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On Friday:

• a senior Department of Transportation official will travel to California and
• FRA Administrator Szabo will hold an event in Chicago, Illinois.

For further details on the major corridor projects, click here:

• Florida
• California
• Chicago-St. Louis-Kansas City
• Madison - Milwaukee – Chicago
• Charlotte - Raleigh - Richmond - Washington, D.C.
• Eugene-Portland-Seattle
• Detroit-Chicago
• Ohio
• Northeast

HSR stimulus money will start flowing this fall

Thank you to the Wall Street Journal

Federal Railroad Administrator, and fellow Midwesterner, Joseph Szabo said "grants will be awarded beginning in late September or early October".