Interstate High Speed Rail Funding | Soul Of America

Vision Map of an Interstate High-Speed Rail System operating by 2050; source U.S. High Speed Rail Association

Interstate High-Speed Rail Funding

America must invest a higher percentage of federal, state, county, and private funds in High-Speed Rail, Regional Rail, Commuter Rail & Metro Rail projects now to limit project inflation for a Passenger Transportation System that reduces congestion & smog, increases GDP, and helps slow Global Warming by 2050 – Thomas Dorsey, High-Speed Rail Advocate & Travel Publisher

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In the 21st century, every advanced nation needs a balance of great Aviation, Highway, Intercity Passenger Rail, Rapid Transit, and decent Bikeway infrastructure for Complete Passenger Transportation Systems.

By 2030-35, China, Japan, and South Korea will have Complete Passenger Transportation Systems. As Western Europe surpasses 400 million population by 2040, it will have Complete Passenger Transportation Systems with smoother border crossings. By 2045, India and Southeast Asia will have Complete Passenger Transportation Systems with smoother border crossings to China.

Due to Highway & Hub Airport congestion, smog, Global Warming, and population growth from 330 million in 2020 to 390 million by 2050, America must do likewise. Ditto for Canada and Mexico.

Intercity Passenger Rail consists of High-Speed Rail (HSR), Regional Rail, and Long-Distance Rail. Rapid Transit consists of Commuter Rail, Metro Heavy Rail, Metro Light Rail & Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). HSR, Regional Rail, Commuter Rail & Metro Rail have high capacity, higher speeds, and high frequency for massive ridership potential to Intermodal Transportation Centers. BRT has medium-capacity and slower speeds that complement other modes of transportation.

In America, Long-Distance Rail has low-frequency, slow speeds, and low ridership that primarily serve a political purpose by Congressmen.

Unfortunately, Congress and Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, and Trump only invested “chump change” in HSR, Regional Rail, Commuter Rail & Metro Rail infrastructure from 1971 to 2021. That is why Amtrak Northeast Corridor is a slow “Bootleg HSR” route and excluding NYC, all metro areas have underbuilt Rapid Transit.

America finally made a big step forward in November 2021, when the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) was passed by Congress and President Biden. Over 2022-24, the BIL combined with annual U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) allocations, contributed difference-making grants to Highway bridge repair, modernizing Hub Airports, kick-started several Commuter Rail and Metro Rail projects, boosted two HSR projects, increased Amtrak Regional & Long-Distance train frequencies.

Nevertheless, most HSR, Regional Rail, Commuter Rail, and Metro (Heavy & Light) Rail projects were underfunded again. They have been underfunded since 1971 when Amtrak was founded or 1974, if believe our federal government could not afford it until the Vietnam War ended.

Given so many decades of federal non-funding or underfunding, I don’t see a practical way to complete the Interstate HSR & Regional Rail System proposed by the U.S. High-Speed Rail Association by 2050. But we can inrease strides toward it if the 47th President gets over a personal grievance and takes advice from smarter Transportation analysts.

Over 2017-20, Trump canceled a $929 million federal grant to the California HSR project, mostly due to his tit-for-tat with Governor Newsom. Yet, he approved a $647 million federal grant to electrify commuter rail entering San Francisco that will eventually serve California HSR trains too. In August 2024, Trump re-stated his interest in a world-class HSR system like Japan. Yet, his Secretary of Transportation plans to cut federal funding to HSR, Regional Rail & Rapid Transit projects with a bulls-eye targeting the California HSR project.

The state is committed to investing over $31 billion mostly in the 171 miles of the California HSR Central Valley while USDOT only granted $6.7 billion. Transportation Secretary Duffy falsely claims that the HSR project is rife with taxpayer fraud & abuse desspite the state winning everyone lawsuit that needlessly delayed the project.

That misleading staement is rich coming from a secretary who knows that Interstate Highway and Hub Airport projects receive USDOT grants covering 50-65% of construction costs, not 18%. Nor does he acknowledge that California HSR project has been completing construction milestones since 2018.

Read an insightful summary of California HSR Progress here.

Trump has not shown interest in funding Rapid Transit or Sustainable Energy. But there is still hope to continue progress towards a good Interstate HSR & Regional Rail System. The National Association of Rail Passengers has collated rail projects submitted by state DOTs and Amtrak to identify a pipeline of rail projects totaling $209 billion.

If Congress and the 47th & 48th Presidents provide 60% of HSR project funding, as they do for projects, there are proven state and private sources for the remainder.

$209 Billion of Pent-up Demand for HSR & Regional Rail Investment

Many Republican governors, senators, and representatives support HSR projects that include substantial private funding. HSR & Regional Rail projects in Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, California, and Nevada would employ people who voted for them and want HSR & Regional Rail. Equally important, the narrow GOP House of Representatives majority won in 2024 could easily be lost if Net U.S. job losses occur before the 2026 election.

Trump has Silicon Valley billionaire campaign donors to reward. Most of them want California HSR extended from the Central Valley & Gilroy to San Jose & San Francisco to enable affordable housing for more workers. Despite mediocre infrastructure and excluding 4 years of recovering from the pandemic, Amtrak Northeast Corridor HSR has operated at a profit since 2006. In 2024, Amtrak’s ridership was higher than its record-setting 2019 performance.

More websites, podcasts, and other social media are educating Americans that we need HSR, Regional Rail, Metro Heavy Rail & Metro Light Rail like our Global Economic Competitors. Though privately-owned Brightline avoids expensive tunnel construction, it sees a business pay-off worth shouldering 75% of HSR construction cost between Las Vegas and a distant Los Angeles suburb because all of it will be on the surface with a few short viaducts.

Brightline is also willing to raise more private equity for a surface extension from Victor Valley to Palmdale, provided publicly-funded tunnels from California HSR Palmdale Station are built under mountains to connect with Burbank Airport and downtown Los Angeles stations. In that manner, Brightline would also use California HSSR tracks to create a 2nd more profitable route (Las Vegas-Victor Valley-Palmdale-Burbank Airport-Los Angeles Union Station).

Every politician knows that more highway bridge & surface repair will require federal funding after the BIL expires in September 2026. Democrats and Republicans in purple suburbs know their voters demand more Rapid Transit lines. Corporate campaign donors want the Smart Electric Grid completed sooner to eliminate brown-outs & black-outs. Republicans in rural areas want more Highway-Energy-Waterworks projects.

Those are tangible ingredients for another Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or larger annual Transportation, Energy & Waterworks budgets.

Plan for Interstate HSR by Transportation guru Alon Levy

Transportation scholar Alon Levy’s Interstate HSR Plan only lacks a St. Louis-Kansas City line.

If political interests align to increase funding immediately after the BIL, HSR lines similar to the American HSR Map by Alon Levy can be completed by 2050. Though not on Levy’s map, they should include many upgraded Regional Rail routes.

America Can Afford Big Infrastructure Projects

China is investing 5.6% of its GDP in Transportation infrastructure for the 21st century. Japan, France, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom can afford to invest 0.7% to 1.3% of GDP on infrastructure because they began investments decades earlier than China. Their Passenger Transportation infrastructure also competes better in the 21st Century.

America doesn’t have to shake down couches or increase tax rates to find infrastructure money. We have the world’s largest economy at $28 Trillion in 2024 GDP. We can afford to invest 1.2% of GDP on infrastructure.

The World Economy divided by countries in 2023; source Visual Capitalist

As Part 4 of this series explains, fixing highway bridges & surfaces is a sound investment but widening highways beyond 8 or 10 lanes is unsound. Though our Top 30 Hub Airports will be in good shape by 2030, very few can add runways for more take-offs & landings.

To prevent more travel congestion and productivity loss in the decades ahead, we must accelerate HSR, Regional Rail & Rapid Transit projects that will attract millions of riders, not Amtrak Long-Distance projects that attract thousands of riders. Politifact says that America spent over $6 Trillion on two Middle East wars from 2001-21. After those two wars, we freed up some public funds but did not cut wasteful Defense spending.

As Scientific American explained in 2020, “The Pentagon has a track record of profligate spending. If it were a private corporation, gross mismanagement would have forced the Pentagon into bankruptcy years ago. Dysfunctional internal controls, abetted by years of lax congressional oversight have enabled it to waste about $100 billion annually on a parade of overpriced, botched, and bungled projects.”

In 2023, the USA spent 3.4% of GDP ($916 billion) on Defense. With surgical review by Inspector Generals and bipartisan oversight by Congress, America can shave off 5% from wasteful Defense spending to transfer $46 billion/year to HSR & Regional Rail infrastructure while maintaining a military advantage over China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea combined.

Our federal and state leaders can also eliminate Oil & Natural Gas industry subsidies to transfer $25 billion per year to Rapid Transit and Sustainable Energy projects – that should include Nuclear Fusion.

Why Can't I Chill on More High-Speed Trains?

When will America get serious about funding High-Speed Rail like other nations?; credit gilaxia

Funding HSR & Regional Rail Projects Still Possible

When President Biden signed the $1.2 trillion/5-year proposal into Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) in November 2021, it only prevented our Intercity Passenger Rail, Highway, Rapid Transit, Energy, and Waterworks infrastructure from falling further behind. Specific to this topic, it only allocated $66 billion to Federal Railroads and $39 billion to Federal Transit beginning in FY2022 (October 2022).

The Federal Railroads Administration (FRA) allocated a difference-making $30 billion to the Amtrak Northeast Corridor HSR project and $3 billion to combine with $9+ billion of private funding for the Las Vegas-Southern California HSR project. The BIL also invests $24 billion in Amtrak train replacements, planning more Regional Rail projects, and fixing some Freight Rail bottlenecks.

Of the paltry $12 billion allocated to other HSR and beefier Regional Rail projects, California HSR was granted only $6.7 billion, despite having 95% of its 500-mile Phase 1 project Under Construction or Environmentally Cleared for construction. Amtrak Chicago-St. Louis, Amtrak Chicago-Gary-Kalamazoo-Detoit, and Amtrak Washington-Richmond-Raleigh routes received a measly combined $3.5 billion for their partial upgrades to 110 mph status.

The Democrat-led $205 Billion/5 Year HSR Proposal is DOA. Given Trump’s petty hatred for Governor Newsom, he has also directed his Transportation Secretary to dump on California HSR by falsely claiming the project is rife with fraud and abuse.

A good economy usually matters to Presidents. Biden handed Trump a low unemployment rate, slowing inflation with high consumer confidence to continue solid GDP growth and paying down the National Debt. To our detriment, “Sustainable Infrastructure Luddites” from Heritage Foundation who joined the Trump Administration have misled him to halt HSR, Wind, Solar, and EV Charging Station funding.

For those and “other reasons” the economy is slowing. Under Biden, America was already extracting record levels of domestic oil, so Trump’s “Drill Baby Drill” policy is not going to juice GDP.

There is still reason for hope after the November 2026 Election. There will be a new California Governor.

Privately owned Brightline Florida is considered a mildly successful Regional Rail route though bedeviled by railroad crossing accidents.

In addition to 119 miles currently under construction, California HSR Central Valley segment has 52 miles Environmentally Cleared for construction. California is contributing up to $31 billion to the HSR project over 2009-31 and seeks a private company to license their trains on it. Shared California HSR-Amtrak-Commuter Rail segments in the San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles need dozens railroad over/underpasses also request federal & state funding.

As proven by Salesforce Transportation Center in San Francisco, private companies will bid for expensive naming rights at SFO Airport, San Jose, Gilroy, Merced, Fresno, Bakersfield, Los Angeles and Anaheim stations. Like naming rights for sports arenas, that money source can help fund stations and railroad over/underpasses.

Several dozen railroad overpasses on the existing Brightline Florida route, including near Mar-a-Lago, are needed for safety and 100-110 mph speeds.

Elsewhere, public and/or private investments are queued up for Chicago-Detroit, Milwaukee-Chicago-St. Louis, Washington-Richmond-Raleigh-Charlotte, Portland-Seattle-Vancouver, and Dallas-Houston HSR projects.

Trump has persuasive power over Congressional Republicans. The U.S. High Speed Rail Association has dozens of corporate partners ready to enter Public-Private-Partnerships with federal & state governments. Private companies and states want the USDOT to lead fund the most expensive components of HSR projects — tunnels & long viaducts.

Thus, Trump’s USDOT has a prime opportunity to forge difference-making Public-Private-Partnerships on his watch.

Difference-making HSR & Regional Rail Projects

If he chooses to, Trump can focus the BIL-level Federal Highway budget on bridge & surface repair. He can focus the BIL-level Energy budget towards the Smart Electric Grid. Trump can also surpass Biden’s HSR, Regional Rail & Commuter Rail legacy while adhering to his policy of User-Pay Models.

The BIL is slated to grant $26.4 billion to Federal Railroads from October 2024 to September 2026. If he ignores pettiness with Democratic governors, Trump can continue the annual $4.7 billion Federal Railroads budget for 2 years. The $26.4 billion + $9.4 billion would sum to about $36 billion/2 years. He can also lead Republicans to boost the FY 2027 and FY 2028 Federal Railroad budgets to $26 billion each. His Federal Transit Administration (FTA) can prioritize $8 billion/4 years towards over/underpass projects shared by HSR, Amtrak Regional Rail and Commuter Rail.

Trump can focus that $98 billion ($36 billion/2 years + $54 billion/4 years + $8 billion/4 years) on difference-making projects that the public, news media & social media will celebrate in a way that unites our country:

1. His USDOT could accelerate the useful opening Calfironia HSR service by allocating $30 billion/4 years to combine with California allocating $12 billion/4 years from its DOT budget, 5 counties by contributing $3 billion from their Transit budgets, and Brightline contributing $10 billion for a 15-year license to purchase & operate California HSR trains. That $55 billion could open California HSR San Francisco-San Jose-Fresno-Bakersfield segment and upgrade Commuter Rail & Amtrak in Burbank Airport-Los Angeles-Anaheim segment before California HSR Bakersfield-Palmdale-Burbank Airport segment is completed.

2. His FRA could allocate $4 billion/4 years to combine with $5 billion Brightline investment to expand Brightline HSR 53 miles from Victorville to Palmdale to connect with LA’s commuter rail system.

3. His FRA could allocate $30 billion/4 years coupled with $15 billion/4 years from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina & Georgia, and $10 billion from Brightline to build 185-200 mph HSR in Washington-Richmond-Raleigh-Charlotte-Greenville-Atlanta corridor. For its private investment, Brightline could receive a 20-year exclusive license to purchase & operate trains.

4. His FRA could allocate $16 billion/4 years to couple with $8 billion/4 years from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana & Michigan to upgrade Amtrak’s Milwaukee-Chicago-Gary/Hammond-Kalamazoo-Detroit corridor to 150 mph HSR and 26 daily roundtrips to operate at a profit.

5. His FRA could allocate $4 billion/4 years and convince privately-owned Texas Central to invest their first $8 billion/4 years towards the 205 mph Dallas-Houston HSR project. The current plan for termini in Dallas CBD and a Houston suburb should extend to Fort Worth CBD and Houston CBD.

6. His FRA could allocate $4 billion/4 years and convince Florida to add $4 billion and Brightline to invest $3 billion more for a 125 mph Regional Rail extension in the Orlando-Disney Springs-Tampa corridor plus 60 railroad overpasses needed for Brightline to reach 110-125 mph in Miami-Space Coast corridor. Brightline would find those investment terms attractive because they eliminate its railroad accident issue and enable operating profits sooner.

7. There are 6 more difference-making Amtrak Regional Rail projects ready for a USDOT grants totaling as $24 billion/4 years.

Taming Project Inflation & Public Advocacy

No one likes tax dollars wasted. The U.S. High Speed Rail Association, Transportation scholars Alon Levy at PedetrianObservations and Yonah Freemark at TheTransportPolitic, the HSR Alliance have studied successful HSR, Regional Rail, and Rapid Transit projects in Japan and Western Europe. To ensure we get our money’s worth, we need federal & state leaders to follow Global Best Practices explained in the video below.

In case you don’t watch the video, here are several highlights:

• Hire more Passenger Rail expertise in transportation agencies to reduce expensive contractors
• Converge more federal & state policies to shorten Environmental Reviews by 1 year
• Standardize more construction elements for economies of scale that lower costs
• Build many HSR, Regional Rail, Rapid Transit, and train station projects simultaneously
• Seek private funding for Transportation-Oriented Development (TOD) to pay for station upgrades
• Excluding Northeast & Chicago-Midwest regions, invite private high-speed train operators to replace Amtrak

As mentioned earlier, we live in a litigious country. Recently, Good NIMBY lawsuits slowed down excessive highway widening and airport runway projects that would destroy more communities and businesses. In contrast, Bad NIMBY lawsuits inflate costs for HSR, Regional Rail & Rapid Transit projects approved by a sound majority of voters.

The public must understand that population growth eliminates the “No Build Alternative” in the corridors listed in Part 6 of this series. Those HSR & Regional Rail projects can limit costs by using substantial rights-of-way (ROW) in existing railway and highway property. Even where they require new ROW, HSR, Regional Rail & Metro Rail consume one-third as much land as 6-lane highways with medians and cost half as much to build.

We need more news media and social media calling out the charade of widening highways beyond 8 or 10 lanes and calling it “Congestion Relief.”

HSR, Regional Rail, Metro Rail, and a Smart Electric Grid collectively limit highway and airport congestion, reduce highway fatalities, increase economic productivity, lower smog, and lower GHG emissions to help slow Global Warming. We need more news & social media advocating for HSR, Regional Rail, Rapid Transit & Smart Electric Grid project funding.

Will Generation Y & Z Save Us?

The United Nations says we are in a death race to prevent a 2° Celcius temperature rise by 2050 that threatens our way of life. To slow Global Warming, every advanced and emerging nation must accelerate Sustainable Energy investments, plant more trees, and recycle & reuse more plastic.

Since the 1950s, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents funded the Highway System and Airports by winning project funds for their constituents. America can complete our Passenger Transportation System by building HSR, Regional Rail, Rapid Transit, and a Smart Electric Grid and limit project cost inflation by accelerating federal and state funding.

Since we delayed Sustainable Infrastructure investment for decades, America’s Generation Y & Z voters will experience more negative impacts from highway & airport congestion, smog, and Global Warming in their lifetimes. They will become the largest percentage of voters beginning in 2026. With that in mind, I close with two questions.

Will the 2025-26 President and GOP Congressional Majority BIL investment claw back HSR, Regional Rail & Rapid Transit investment?

Will Generation Y & Z voters pressure politicians to boost HSR, Regional Rail, Rapid Transit & Smart Electric Grid project funding before the BIL expires in September 2026?

~~~ HIGH-SPEED RAIL ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES ~~~