Transportation industry

Amtrak is seeking $1.3 billion of federal high-speed rail funds to help build two new train tunnels under the Hudson River, linking New Jersey and New York, and expand high-speed rail on the Northeast Corridor.

Portland’s City Council looks likely to approve $45 million of revenue bonds next week in support of a $1.4 billion light-rail project.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority’s $51 million of subordinate tax-allocation revenue bonds to B1 from Ba3.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation has received more than 90 applications from 24 states, the District of Columbia, and Amtrak seeking a total of nearly $10 billion for high-speed rail projects — more than four times the $2.4 billion available from Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s cancellation of a project in his state.

DALLAS — Construction is expected to begin in June on a $400 million Union Pacific rail hub in Santa Teresa, N.M., financed through a public-private partnership, after New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez signed four bills related to the project.

Moody’s Investors Service Friday downgraded the Louisville Regional Airport Authority’s revenue bond rating to A2 from A1.

Alabama officials are considering increasing the use of tolls to build roads in the state and replace the potential loss of $150 million in federal funds.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Kentucky Turnpike Authority Wednesday expects to conclude a two-day pricing of $112.6 million of new and refunding revenue bonds.

Standard & Poor’s has revised the outlook on Lambert St. Louis International Airport’s A-minus rating to negative from stable due to weak debt-service coverage levels.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon last week announced plans to submit applications seeking nearly $1 billion in federal high-speed and intercity passenger rail funds.

DALLAS — Amid ambitious expansion plans, Denver International Airport will price up to $400 million of refunding revenue bonds on Thursday.

CHICAGO — Indiana’s governor would have sole power to create new toll roads and enter into public-private partnerships for highway projects under a bill already passed by the Senate and expected to be considered by a House subcommittee as early as Wednesday.

DALLAS — In the largest deal of the year from Texas, the North Texas Tollway Authority will issue more than $1 billion of debt this week, carrying its highest credit rating in three years.

The board of the California High-Speed Rail Authority voted unanimously Wednesday to apply for all the fast-rail funding recently returned to the federal government by Florida.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Ron Wyden’s plans for transportation financing legislation are now focused on tax-credit bonds instead of a scaled-down version of Build America Bonds.

Several Southeast transportation managers hope to score big savings this spring for their projects as they compete against each other and other projects nationally for a handful of low-interest federal loans.

DALLAS — Texas would need $315 billion in additional revenue to keep up with growing demand for roads and maintenance of existing infrastructure through 2030, but sources of revenue are drying up rapidly, according to the latest reports.

The Virginia Port Authority has released a request for proposals seeking firms interested in becoming managing and co-managing underwriters for deals.

The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority’s finance and construction committee was scheduled to meet this week to review the results of a two-day industry forum held in February that drew many international firms involved in public-private partnerships, as well as top investment banks.

Mobile is scrambling to find a replacement cruise liner because Carnival Cruise Lines has announced it will move its 2,052-passenger ship the Elation to New Orleans in October.