I ran across this news story from the transport politic. It’s a bit disappointing to see that Ohio isn’t a top priority of the Midwest Regional Rail Network, but it’s great to see what appears to be real progress in setting priorities.
Midwest Leaders Suggest They Deserve $3.5 Billion for HSR
The Transport Politic
14 April 2009Governors join together to sign letter to DOT Secretary LaHood seeking funds for a Midwest network, defining priorities
The Governors of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin, as well as the Mayor of Chicago, have come together to sign a letter (PDF) suggesting their interest in working together to implement a regional rail network shooting out from a hub in the Windy City. The first phase of the network, indicated in the image above, would include routes to St. Louis, Missouri; Madison, Wisconsin; and Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan. These are lines that their respective states have discussed before as priorities for development, and Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin have already begun working on preliminary engineering on their respective lines. This is the first time, however, we’ve seen these routes framed in terms of the Midwest Regional Rail Network as a whole.
It looks like the FRA will be deciding which projects gets the money by the end of the summer.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aury2gSBH1lo&refer=us
The corridors identified as potential high speed corridors don’t look like anything new to me, but the list is here, along with full comments from VP Biden:
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4949672.shtml
It makes sense to begin where there’s existing service. Ohio is ripe for conventional speed service and you gotta admit, at this time, there’s not much difference. Simply to visit to Cincinnati or Cleveland without maintaining insurance and vehicle will promote personal wealth. (Sorry, it’s gotta be a once in a life time event to take a bus.)