High-Speed Rail Overview
System Components, Potential, and Cost Issues
While Congress has been interested in high-speed rail (HSR) since the 1960s, the provision of $8 billion for intercity passenger rail projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), enacted in February 2009, has invigorated the prospect of high-speed passenger rail transportation in the United States. As one industry observer has noted: “It is impossible to overstate how big a sea change this represents … [The] $8 billion is 17 times as much money as Congress has provided for these programs over the past 10 fiscal years.” The $8 billion was included in ARRA largely at the behest of…
