Northeast Shut Out From High Speed Rail Money

To perform the environmental reviews necessary, transit officials along the Northeast corridor would have to wait years past the federal government's deadlines.

"The projects, aimed at increasing speeds, range from bridge replacements in Connecticut to new overhead wires in New Jersey. They would cut the Acela's travel time from Boston to New York by almost 30 minutes, and from Boston to Washington by a full hour.

When the first grants are announced in January, most of the money - and accompanying jobs - is expected to go to railroad projects in California and the Midwest, which currently have no high-speed trains but are trying to establish service for the first time."