A Passenger Rail Revolution?

An injection of federal funding could help make train travel a key component of the U.S. transportation network.

1 minute read

December 27, 2023, 12:00 PM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Aerial view of yellow Brightline high-speed rail train in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

A Brightline high-speed rail train in Deerfield Beach, Florida. | Markus Mainka / Adobe Stock

Rail advocates have good reason to hope that passenger rail is seeing a resurgence in the United States, writes Daniel C. Vock in Route Fifty.

According to Joseph Aiello of the Rail Passengers Association, “2023 was a perfect storm” of efforts aimed at reviving the nation’s struggling train system and building new conventional and high-speed rail lines. “Going into a reelection campaign, President Joe Biden placed big bets on a few massive rail expansion efforts—particularly in the Northeast and California—while stoking interest in dozens of other potential projects in nearly every state.”

“Amtrak notched a significant victory as it fought freight railroads to better accommodate passenger trains,” and New York officials celebrated the groundbreaking on the long-awaited Gateway Project. California’s high-speed rail project, which has had a dramatic series of ups and downs, garnered over $3 billion in federal funding, while Brightline secured key approvals and $3 billion of its own for its Southern California-to-Las Vegas HSR line.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023 in Route Fifty

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