Shift Magazine - February 2022 - 20

Traditionally in the back
seat, passenger rail gets fresh
funding, showing potential for higher speeds
FAST TRACKED?
A
BY PETE BIGELOW
merica may be poised for a rail
renaissance,
one that
could
someday fulfill dreams of a
high-speed network connecting
major U.S. cities.
In November, President Joe Biden
signed a once-in-a-generation infrastructure
upgrade that, among other things,
provides $66 billion for rail projects that
will modernize existing rail lines, fix notorious
trouble spots on the Northeast
Corridor by 2035 and expand service
options.
The funding represents the largest
financial infusion in the half-century
history of Amtrak, the national passenger-rail
operator, which historically has
subsisted with annual federal subsidies
in the $1.5 billion to $2 billion range.
" That Congress has set aside money
to start - and I want to be clear - start
to develop a high-quality network is a
huge, huge step in the right direction, "
said Rick Harnish, executive director of
the High Speed Rail Alliance.
If the fresh funding provides a firmer
foundation for the status quo, it does not
20 shift * february 2022
Private rail company Brightline,
shown here and above, estimates
that its service in Florida will
eliminate 3 million car trips per year.
necessarily, at least in the short term,
alter the fundamentals of passenger rail's
role in the larger transportation realm.
For those who imagine high-speed
trains regularly zipping travelers between
cities at speeds of 186 mph or greater
- a threshold most rail experts consider
the start of true " high-speed rail " - that
future remains in an embryonic state.
A California high-speed rail project
more than a decade in the making
remains beset with billions in cost overruns
and unresolved geographic constraints.
A separate, privately funded
project between Las Vegas and Southern
California could break ground next year.
A proposed high-speed rail project linking
Dallas and Houston is sidelined amid
legal wrangling.
Grant funding available in the infrastructure
bill could accelerate work on
those or other projects, and completion
of one could represent a true starting
point for high-speed rail, according to
Andy Kunz, CEO of the US High Speed
Rail Association.
" We're really a few years away from
seeing one of those running, and the
most important thing in our mind is getting
one or two of these new projects to
the finish line, " he said. " Once that happens,
we'll see a huge advance forward.
Governors will start pushing for it. That
will change the attitude in the country in
favor of it, rather than just hearing about
cost overruns. "
Shift Magazine - February 2022

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