23 rail projects to share $2 billion

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- High-speed, inter-city rail projects throughout the country will share $2 billion in awards, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Monday.

The investments will be used to, among other things, speed up trains in the Northeast Corridor, expand service in the Midwest and provide state-of-the-art locomotives and rail cars as part of the Obama administration's plans to transform travel in America, LaHood and Vice President Joe Biden said in a release.

The Transportation Department's Federal Railroad Administration selected 15 states and Amtrak to receive $2.02 billion for 22 high-speed, inter-city passenger rail projects the administration said will connect 80 percent of Americans to high-speed rail in 25 years.

Biden said the projects would "put thousands of Americans to work, save hundreds of thousands of hours for American travelers every year and boost U.S. manufacturing by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in next-generation, American-made locomotives and rail cars."

LaHood said the administration's national rail system goals will help ensure the United States "is equipped to win the future with the fastest, safest and most efficient transportation network in the world."