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Last year, the government promised $10.5 billion in funds for high-speed rail development<\/a> and the first state to receive some of that money is Florida.\u00a0 Tomorrow, President Obama will be awarding $2.5 billion to the state to jump-start the first phase of their train system<\/a> that will run from Orlando to Tampa.<\/p>\n Phase 1 will run along the heavily traveled\u00a0 I-4 corridor and take passengers to Orlando Airport, Orlando, Disney, Lakeland and Tampa at speeds above 120 mph – not a bullet train, but still faster than a car.\u00a0\u00a0 Phase 2 will connect Orlando to Miami by two different routes (I-95 and the Turnpike).\u00a0 The system will eventually connect all the major cities in the state and points in between.<\/p>\n The first phase will cost $3.5 billion, so after the government funds the state will still have to raise $1 billion from private investors to complete the project.\u00a0 The state expects the first trains to be running by 2014.<\/p>\n Ideally, Florida’s train system is just the beginning of a much larger train network linking the whole East Coast and the nation.\u00a0 With $8 billion left to be doled out, I’m excited to see which area is the next recipient.<\/p>\n