Officials pre-announce new high-speed rail grants to states

And just in time for the mid-terms! While another thread focuses on $121 million for Connecticut, other officials are making new announcements. The money appears to be drawn from the $2.5 billion appropriated for high speed rail in 2010. Enjoy that money while it lasts...

California, $902 million. According to the San Jose Mercury-News and the San Francisco Chronicle, $715 million will go to the Central Valley. Meanwhile, the city council in Palo Alto voted to oppose a station there, in part because it might "adversely impact regional airports such as San Jose International." (That, to me, sounds like a reason to build it.)

Tampa to Orlando, $800 million. Details at The Ledger, of Lakeland, FL.

Chicago to Iowa City, $230 million. From the Quad City Times:

The money will pay for service between Chicago and Iowa City that will run at a maximum speed of 79 mph. Average speed is expected to be 53 mph. Trains will run twice daily, said Tammy Nicholson, the director of Iowa’s office of rail transportation....The service should be operational in 2015, according to the application. Overall, the application for rail funding was for a $310 million project. The state of Illinois has committed $45 million while Iowa and cities and organizations in that state have pledged another $20.6 million.

What a waste. With respect to my former fellow Iowans, that's money that could be better spent elsewhere. Almost anywhere elsewhere. And I wonder if Gov.-to-Be Branstand will pull the plug on the train when he takes office, like fellow GOP candidates promise.

Kalamazoo to Detroit, $160 million. From the Detroit Free Press:

U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan put out news releases saying the funding will go toward purchasing and restoring the 135-mile-long track.Once it's restored, trains will be able to travel at speeds up to 79 m.p.h., with the ultimate goal of creating a rail line capable of handling speeds up to 110 m.p.h. "Our people want alternative transit options, and this grant will help Michigan, and the United States, to compete with our neighbors abroad," Dingell said. A grant of $3.2 million will help pay for planning involved in the project. In addition, $7.9 million will go to the West Detroit connection project to connect the Chicago-Detroit High Speed line to Detroit New Center Station.

According to AnnArbor.com, "either the state or Amtrak to purchase a portion of track between Ypsilanti and Kalamazoo from Norfolk Southern."

Using the same newspapers travelrobb did, I've accounted for $2.057 billion, leaving $430 million unleaked. Four states account for $2 billion:

California: $902 million
Florida: $800M
Massachusetts: $160 million
Michigan: $150 million
Virginia: $45 million

Add in travelrobb's $230 million for Illinois, and the pot for the other 44 states is dwindling fast.

travelrobb wrote:And just in time for the mid-terms! While another thread focuses on $121 million for Connecticut, other officials are making new announcements. The money appears to be drawn from the $2.5 billion appropriated for high speed rail in 2010. Enjoy that money while it lasts...

California, $902 million. According to the San Jose Mercury-News and the San Francisco Chronicle, $715 million will go to the Central Valley. Meanwhile, the city council in Palo Alto voted to oppose a station there, in part because it might "adversely impact regional airports such as San Jose International." (That, to me, sounds like a reason to build it.)

It looks as if CHSR has managed to ruffle feathers in just about every locality. In Palo Alto, the city council doesn't want to pay for the parking structure and there are doubts about where the funds from the station are going to come from. Shockingly, there is a movement against any CHSR station stop in the entire Mid-Peninsula area. Who would have thought that passenger rail would have been this controversial?

travelrobb wrote:Chicago to Iowa City, $230 million. From the Quad City Times:

The money will pay for service between Chicago and Iowa City that will run at a maximum speed of 79 mph. Average speed is expected to be 53 mph. Trains will run twice daily, said Tammy Nicholson, the director of Iowa’s office of rail transportation....The service should be operational in 2015, according to the application. Overall, the application for rail funding was for a $310 million project. The state of Illinois has committed $45 million while Iowa and cities and organizations in that state have pledged another $20.6 million.

What a waste. With respect to my former fellow Iowans, that's money that could be better spent elsewhere. Almost anywhere elsewhere. And I wonder if Gov.-to-Be Branstand will pull the plug on the train when he takes office, like fellow GOP candidates promise.

I really can't figure out why this project is going ahead. It looks a like a colossal money loser. What are the farebox recovery projections?

Does anyone really know why this got funded? Iowa caucuses?

travelrobb wrote:Kalamazoo to Detroit, $160 million. From the Detroit Free Press:

U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan put out news releases saying the funding will go toward purchasing and restoring the 135-mile-long track.Once it's restored, trains will be able to travel at speeds up to 79 m.p.h., with the ultimate goal of creating a rail line capable of handling speeds up to 110 m.p.h. "Our people want alternative transit options, and this grant will help Michigan, and the United States, to compete with our neighbors abroad," Dingell said. A grant of $3.2 million will help pay for planning involved in the project. In addition, $7.9 million will go to the West Detroit connection project to connect the Chicago-Detroit High Speed line to Detroit New Center Station.

According to AnnArbor.com, "either the state or Amtrak to purchase a portion of track between Ypsilanti and Kalamazoo from Norfolk Southern."

Again, a lot of money for minimal return. Detroit continues its familiar pattern of depopulation and despair and the state of Michigan might just cut state subsidies at any time. Michigan is a swing state, so that might be a clue.

Still, I don't see any short term political gain from these funding announcements.

Let's keep discussion to those grants that have to do with Amtrak operated corridors, or contemplated thereof. I'm not sure about CA, but I'm fairly certain the FL corridor is to be operated by Sunrail, and not Amtrak. No idea on VA if it's VRE or Amtrak. I've already locked the CT thread since that's a CDOT proposed service, and there's a thread in that forum.

I would suggest keeping separate topics as this will jump all over the place, so if someone wants to start threads for each of these threads as they pertain to Amtrak ONLY, go right ahead.

Per a member suggestion, I"m moving the "multiple grant" thread to HSR, and unlocking. If you want to discuss in Amtrak forum, keep to Amtrak operated only in separate corridor threads.

Pardon my lack of knowledge on the topic, but I have to ask: What proposed HSR lines will be operated by Amtrak vs. Other organizations? And what is Amtrak's overall plan (aside from the NEC) for HSR? I guess what my question really comes down to is (this is assuming HSR lines are built) could we expect to see Amtrak being the primary HSR operator (such as DB in Germany) or would we expect to see Amtrak running a few nation-wide/longer distance routes, with States/other organizations operating regional routes?

Jeff Smith wrote:Let's keep discussion to those grants that have to do with Amtrak operated corridors, or contemplated thereof. I'm not sure about CA, but I'm fairly certain the FL corridor is to be operated by Sunrail, and not Amtrak.

SunRail, operated by the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, will be Orlando-area commuter rail on tracks also used by CSX and Amtrak. The Tampa-Orlando high-speed line is being planned by Florida Rail Enterprise, part of the Florida Department of Transportation. It's not clear yet how the two will connect, but they will likely not be operated by the same agency.

Jeff Smith wrote:Let's keep discussion to those grants that have to do with Amtrak operated corridors, or contemplated thereof. I'm not sure about CA, but I'm fairly certain the FL corridor is to be operated by Sunrail, and not Amtrak. No idea on VA if it's VRE or Amtrak. I've already locked the CT thread since that's a CDOT proposed service, and there's a thread in that forum.

I would suggest keeping separate topics as this will jump all over the place, so if someone wants to start threads for each of these threads as they pertain to Amtrak ONLY, go right ahead.

The Virginia award was $45 million for Preliminary Engineering and Tier II EIS work on the Arlington VA to Richmond corridor and a new bridge for the Appomattox River. It is part of the SouthEast HrSR corridor planning which will tie into the Richmond to Petersburg to Raleigh NC section which is in the latter stages of completing the PE / Tier II design work. The Virginia and SE HrSR planning very much involves Amtrak operation with connecting trains running on the NEC. VRE gets involved on the Fredericksburg to DC part.

The CT award for the New Haven to Springfield corridor also very much involves Amtrak as Amtrak owns the tracks for starters. While CT primary motive in the project is to start up a New Haven - Hartford - Springfield commuter service, the upgrades are also to eventually additional trains to central Mass and VT and to take a step towards an Amtrak Inland Route service.

The only 2 projects that are likely to be run separately from Amtrak are the CA and FL HSR programs. Amtrak could end up being the actual operator of those services under contract, but the trains won't be part of the Amtrak system nor run under a Amtrak label.

ARBKAL wrote:Pardon my lack of knowledge on the topic, but I have to ask: What proposed HSR lines will be operated by Amtrak vs. Other organizations? And what is Amtrak's overall plan (aside from the NEC) for HSR? I guess what my question really comes down to is (this is assuming HSR lines are built) could we expect to see Amtrak being the primary HSR operator (such as DB in Germany) or would we expect to see Amtrak running a few nation-wide/longer distance routes, with States/other organizations operating regional routes?

While nothing has been stated, I think that HSR in California may be branded under "Amtrak California" which is funded by Caltrans. The state of california owns the trains and subsidizes the existing service.

They even have their own website, although all ticketing and schedule information is found in the standard Amtrak website
http://www.amtrakcalifornia.com/

I think it's in everybody best interest to have all intercity service available under one brand for ease of use (one website, transfers, through ticketing etc)

afiggatt wrote: The CT award for the New Haven to Springfield corridor also very much involves Amtrak as Amtrak owns the tracks for starters. While CT primary motive in the project is to start up a New Haven - Hartford - Springfield commuter service, the upgrades are also to eventually additional trains to central Mass and VT and to take a step towards an Amtrak Inland Route service.

The only 2 projects that are likely to be run separately from Amtrak are the CA and FL HSR programs. Amtrak could end up being the actual operator of those services under contract, but the trains won't be part of the Amtrak system nor run under a Amtrak label.

That's all well and good, but now that this thread is in the HSR program, you're subject to the perquisites of a new moderator.

As for CDOT/NHHS, host railroad is irrelevant to me; the service is a commuter service funded by CDOT, and it's been long discussed on the MNRR/CDOT forum. We don't discuss SLE or NJT, which run on Amtrak tracks, and in the case of SLE, is Amtrak operated under contract, on Amtrak, do we? If there's a commuter line in Chicago on a freight owned corridor, we don't put it in the freight topic, do we?

If you have a question, PM me.

OK, the official announcements were made today. This Department of Transportation page has links to brief summaries (all pdfs) of the grants by corridor (nine corridors received 2010 grants), as well as to a chart (also a pdf) that details each funded project.

Dissect — within the bounds of moderation, of course.