Virginia set to compete for high-speed rail funds
TOM KAPSIDELIS
High-speed rail in Japan and other nations has leaped ahead of the U.S. One official says high-speed rail in the Richmond region would be “transformational.“
Virginia will take the first formal step tomorrow in seeking more than $1.5 billion in federal stimulus money to develop high-speed rail corridors.
Tomorrow is the deadline for a pre-application by the state for a share of the $8 billion available for high-speed rail development under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, adopted by Congress in February at President Barack Obama's urging.
"Anything that's not in the pre-application will not get funded, so it's a huge deadline," said Daniel L. Plaugher, executive director of Virginians for High Speed Rail in a breakfast presentation today to the Greater Richmond Chamber at Willow Oaks Country Club.
Virginia's proposed $1.51 billion plan includes $491 million improvements in a six-mile stretch around Richmond's Acca rail yard and a 13-mile link between the yard and Main Street Station in the city's downtown. The improvements are necessary to remove bottlenecks that limit rail service to the renovated station
Other parts of the proposal include:
- $185 million to add a third rail track between Richmond and Fredericksburg;
- $152 million to improve conventional rail service between Main Street Station and Petersburg; and
- $195 million to upgrade the rail corridor between Richmond and Washington, D.C., to allow high-speed trains that could cut the trip to 90 minutes on a reliable basis.
The state will submit the final proposal for developing the rail corridors on Oct. 2, and the federal government is expected to award money to the winners on Nov. 16.
Kim Scheeler, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Richmond Chamber, said his organization is working to build support for the state's proposal.
""It really is the kind of thing that can be transformational for this community," Scheeler said.
-- Michael Martz
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Reader Reactions
“godfather to be clear we are talking about federal money for rail upgrades. all Americans will pay for the rail network, not just all Virginians.“
Squier, no we are talking about state money actually. But irregardless, the point stands. And road money? All pay and all benefit. It is called Gas Taxes and whether you drive or take a bus, you pay them. Only a hermit does not benefit, but then I dont think they buy gas either.
We don’t need any high speed rail from here to Washington, now One from here to Miami Florida would be nice.
This project is the most exciting use of the stimulus money in Virginia. It once took me 6 hours to go from Richmond to Baltimore (ususally 3.5-4 hour trip) at Christmas. Even when it is not a holiday the traffic slows down on I-95 to a crawl once I hit Fredericksburg coming from Richmond. I-95 is not functional as an interstate that takes you somewhere safely and quickly anymore. I have found a back way to get to Dulles Airport. The fast rail service is very important and is a wonderful use of the stimulus money. So what if Lee County residents do not directly benefit from this. They benefit from other things that my tax money pays for such as a wonderful community college. I am sure the decrease in car pollution will benefit all in the state—if for no other reason than the environment being healthier. Yea for the new rail system.
Please make sure it gets close to the airports!!
Just think, if we get more people from NOVA in the area, especially the city, we might be able to get some decent local government in City Hall instead of the buffoons we have. Richmond will never be a BIG BOY city unless more affluent people populate it. It will always be stuck in 1865 or 1965…take your pick. Give me high speed rail and I’m doubling my salary easily by working in DC and commuting. I could care less about my tax dollar. It is a small sacrifice.
Willl said, “Viable passenger rail, however, directly benefits the public good and indirectly benefits the entire population.“
I have yet to see a Cost-Benefit Analysis for the proposed high-speed rail line. No one has laid out the tangible and intangible benefits of this “investment.“ I am open to change my opinion if someone, anyone, would tell me what the Return on Investment will be and how long it will take to realize sufficient benefits to justify this espenditure, instead of just cramming it down my throat.
Just great. The roads issue is a top priority and Virginia is worried about money for trains that nobody will ride. WRONG!
Establishing is the easy part. Paying for it is the hard part. Bus lines haven’t paid for themselves. Amtrak hasn’t paid for itself. Both are low budget compared to high speed rail. It asks people who will never benefit from it to pay for something else, again. They have to jazz it up. Make it sound good. Individuals will get rich while taxpayers wonder how they are going to put food on the table. Unless they are on welfare and get free passes, the train will be too expensive for the average person. The state can’t afford to fix the roads. Interstates are being sold to foreign countries because they can’t afford to maintain them. Most cities have outdated wastewater treatment facilities. Obama got upset with all the negative talk about the economy. Said it was having a psychological effect. Ok, so, put a picture of Michael Phelps on Amtrak and call it high speed rail! Put Speedos on the caboose! The only challenge left is to come up with an aerodynamiic smokestack design!
I have just written a master’s thesis on commuter rail, specifically on establishing a commuter train in the region where I live, the Central Valley of California. Two excellent examples of successful inter-regional trains I’ve come across are in Utah and New Mexico. Both the Salt Lake City and Albuquerque regions have implemented commuter trains that, in final buildout, will be nearly 100 miles long. Utah was able to establish theirs within existing right-of-way of the Union Pacific freight line, and just built a parallel track. New Mexico not only built in within the right-of-way mostly, but (mostly) was able to actually share the tract with the existing freight line. Maybe Virginia could extend the VRE at a fraction of the cost of building high-speed rail. For all of you who are sick of sprawling development in your state, a train would be more conducive to transit-oriented design. That would result in more urban, Main Street-like communities and fewer ugly sprawling places like Woodbridge.
“But the problem (re: it will benefit the city, etc.) is that ALL Virginias will pay for it, including the people in Lee County that will never benefit from it.“
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godfather to be clear we are talking about federal money for rail upgrades. all Americans will pay for the rail network, not just all Virginians.
but that’s no different from how roads are funded. i wish i didn’t have to pay for the hundreds of thousands of miles of US roads i will never drive on, but that’s not how it works.
MotleyFool:
I applaud your research. Hey, if we’re going to turn into a bedroom community of DC we might as well get there faster. At least there is major league sports there.
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