WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration is preparing to dole out $8 billion in stimulus funds to support high speed rail projects, an agency spokesman said.
Rob Kulat said the FRA would start distributing funds this winter that would support so-called bullet trains that reach sustained speeds of more than 200 miles per hour, USA Today reported Monday.
Eight state governors are supporting a high speed system that would use Chicago as its hub. North Carolina and Virginia are completing environmental studies on high speed trains. In California, voters approved a $10 billion expenditure on rails that may make the route between San Francisco and Los Angeles the first 200 mph train system in the country.
Beyond the $8 billion, the Senate has approved an annual sum of $1.2 billion to go to high speed rail projects over five years, while the House has approved $4 billion. Joint committees are trying to find a sum agreeable to both.
Nationally, states have requested about $57 billion. "We've never spent that kind of money," said Midwest High Speed Rail Association lobbyist Dan Johnson-Weinberger.
