When President Obama announced plans for high speed rail service, during his State of the Union address, cheers went up in Chicago. That’s because the windy city and the state of Illinois, are getting a $1.2 billion slice of the $8 billion federally funded pie. “The Midwest got the most money of any region, one third of the money ($2.6 billion for the region)….its good to have a president from Illinois” said a smiling Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. All that cash, he said, would translate into about 6000 jobs for the state. “We’re going to make investments in this country that payoff for years to come” said Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. Billions also went to several other states, such as California, and Florida, where construction is planned for an 84 mile high speed track from Tampa to Orlando.
High speed rail service, which has already been in use in parts of Europe and Asia for years, means train travelers could arrive at their destinations 30% faster than before. Trains might get up to speeds of nearly 170 mph. “We want to make sure Cubs fans can get to St Louis as soon as possible” Quinn joked.
Once the rail lines are built, lawmakers will still have to keep their wallets open. Experts say the initial cash will only get the transitions to the new lines set up. Once the trains are running that they will need “sustained investment over time”.
Click on the video to see Senator Dick Durbin’s comments to the media about high speed rail.