Demand for federal high-speed rail funds has once again exceeded supply, as the Federal Railroad Administration confirmed this week that 23 states flooded it with a$137 million of applications for proposed projects.
That figure is almost three times the $50 million that Congress appropriated for fiscal 2010 to the FRA to distribute to states for planning work on proposed high-speed or intercity passenger rail expansions and new projects. The grants require at least a 20% match from states and localities.
An spokesman said Monday that the FRA received 43 applications from states, for the fiscal 2010 grants, as well as four multi-state proposals for $49 million.
Another $65 million of leftover fiscal 2009 appropriations will also be provided for planning, but will require a 50% match, the spokesman confirmed. For those funds, four states submitted eight applications totaling $130 million. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials reported the figures.
States pushing for the fiscal 2010 grants include: California, which is requesting a total of $16.6 million in three applications to help fund planning and environmental work on the Los Angeles-to-San Diego and Merced-to-Sacramento segments of its high-speed rail project, and on the Altamont Corridor Rail Project; Florida, which wants $8 million to accelerate planning for an Orlando-to-Miami high-speed rail connection; North Carolina, which is asking for $6.7 million to plan for expanding intercity passenger rail to western and southeastern parts of the state; and Pennsylvania, which asks for $1.6 million to study expanded rail service between Ohio and New York through Erie, Pa.
Other corridor states submitted, applications for early work on their portions of proposed rail projects.
Amtrak, the federal government-owned national rail corporation, partnered with 11 Northeastern states last month in a request for the FRA to put up 80% of the cost of a three-year multi-modal high-speed rail improvement plan. The Northeast corridor was largely shut out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s $8 billion of high-speed rail grants awarded earlier this year. There is no requirement for states to match funds for those grants.
