Washington, DC – Billions of dollars in pending high-speed rail investments in the United States must be wisely spent in order to develop the nation’s first true high-speed system, according to Committee Republicans.
The following are the statements of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Republican Leader John L. Mica (R-FL) and Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Ranking Member Bill Shuster (R-PA), from today’s hearing on high-speed rail.
Mica Statement
“Hopefully we are on the verge of a new era for high-speed rail in this country, because the United States is a third world country when it comes to high-speed transportation.
“However, we cannot take the funding to be invested in high-speed rail – $8 billion in stimulus funds, $50 billion in the pending surface transportation bill – and try to fool people by giving them anything less than true high-speed rail service.
“We must invest this funding where it makes the most sense. We have to focus on areas where there is the greatest demand for high-speed rail, like the Northeast Corridor. The Northeast Corridor has one of the nation’s highest population densities and one of the most congested airspaces in the world. Rather than modest upgrades to Amtrak’s Acela, which averages only 83 miles per hour between Washington, DC and New York, true high-speed service in this region will provide a 21st century transportation alternative.
“We must also leverage federal dollars with other funding sources at the state and local level, and the private sector, in order to be able to achieve the level of investment necessary. For example, Japan is expanding its high-speed system at an estimated cost of $40 billion, and Spain is committing to a national system that will cost $140 billion.
“We cannot allow efforts to develop a U.S. high-speed system be hijacked by squandering our resources on projects with little potential for success.”
Watch Rep. Mica’s statement on YouTube.
Shuster Statement
“There are many questions about just how high-speed rail is going to be implemented in the United States. DOT and the FRA control the dispersal of $8 billion, and it cannot be overstated how important these decisions will be for the future of high-speed rail. If the funds are spread too thinly among the $57 billion worth of applications, and awarded to too many different projects, I fear that we may end up failing to focus on developing a few key true high-speed lines that will prove the value of this initiative, leading to more investment.
“I believe we should be looking for projects that leverage federal funds. We need to make sure that the private sector is involved, along with commitments from state and local governments, in order fully leverage federal investments.
“We also need to ensure that high-speed rail does not have a negative impact on the national freight rail network. Our freight rail system is the best in the world. Some of the plans that have emerged for high-speed rail involve running faster trains on track that is currently used for freight operations. We need to ensure that we have explored any possible detrimental impacts to freight operations posed by trains running faster than the current 79 mph top speed on hosted track.
We have already reached a critical juncture for high-speed rail in the United States, and we must ensure that this large stimulus investment generates real results.”
Watch Rep. Shuster’s statement on YouTube.
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