Requests for High-Speed, Inter-City Rail Grants Swamp Available Funding

Washington, July 17 — Writing today on his blog, Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the demand for the newly created High-Speed and Inter-City Passenger Rail grant program “just tremendous.” Since publishing guidance requesting proposals for such rail projects in June, the DOT has received 278 pre-applications for a combined $102 billion in funding. But there’s one small problem: The Recovery Act only provided $8 billion for High-Speed and Inter-City grants.

So now the Federal Railroad Administration, which oversees the new grant program, must begin the process of winnowing down that pool of proposals to determine which projects represent the best investment of federal dollars. And with a final application deadline of Aug. 24, the FRA will need to move quickly.