Legislative Background on High-Speed Rail
Recent Action in Congress
The foundation for the Federal Government’s High-Speed Inter-City Passenger Rail (HSPIR) program is contained in two laws: the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. PRIIA established three new competitive grant programs for high-speed and intercity passenger rail capital improvements. Funding to Date. The Recovery Act, also known as the economic stimulus package, appropriated $8 billion for the PRIIA competitive grant programs. In December 2009, Congress appropriated an additional $2.5 billion for this purpose. In the first round of grant solicitations in 2009, the Federal Railway Administration selected applications from…
