Obama Outlines Rail Initiative, Pawlenty Signs Funding Request

President Obama outlined his new inter-city rail plan today, citing ten planned corridors of 110 MPH plus passenger rail service to be developed. Among those was the Minneapolis to Chicago route. The Department of Transportation stated separately that they considered the Minneapolis to Chicago route to be on their "short list" of six lines likely to get a share of the $8 billion in federal stimulus dollars appropriated directly for high speed rail. Distribution of these funds would begin this coming August.

Govenor Pawlenty also signed a funding request by midwestern govenors outlining their preference for the funding priority of individual lines in the Midwest High Speed Rail Initiative. The document, signed by the govenors of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, and Michigan, proposes that the first phase of the network include three lines: one from Chicago to Detroit, another from Chicago to St. Louis, and a third from Chicago to Madison. The extension from Madison to Minneapolis would be part of a second phase of the initiative. The first phase could be operating as early as 2014.

It's kind of disconcerting to hear the Pawlenty isn't fighting for our state by allowing us to slip into the second phase. I mean, St. Louis over Minneapolis? Really? Who knows when that second phase might happen, and it certainly won't be as easy as this first one is with all of that stimulus money floating around right now. It is good to hear that the line is on the DOT's "short list" of funding priorities. I can't help but think that the line only extending to Madison puts it last in the list of the three first phase lines for the MHSRI, which could become a major problem if funding comes down to the wire. Hopefully they'll get that Madison line up and running by 2014, and we won't be too far behind.