Biden met with state governors, including Gov. Rendell, at the White House today to urge them to think boldly in planning for trains that could travel up to 150 m.p.h. He said funding from the federal economic stimulus package could "jump-start" a high-speed rail network to improve the nation's "terrible passenger rail system."
The federal government is to issue detailed guidelines to the states by June 17 on how $8 billion in stimulus funding is to be awarded. Biden said the first payments, "by the end of the summer," would go to improving existing systems where work could begin quickly with measurable impacts. One such system is the Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Specific allocations will be made in late summer, apparently.