High-speed rail competes for federal funds
California’s high-speed rail officials said Monday they will compete for a share of an additional $2.3 billion in federal funds for such train projects nationwide.
Federal Railroad Administration officials announced they will start accepting applicants to disseminate $2.1 billion in grants for high-speed intercity passenger rail projects. The agency will also make available $245 million for individual construction projects within a high-speed rail corridor.
This will be in addition to the $8 billion in federal stimulus funds that were awarded to high-speed rail projects last fall. California was able to secure $2.2 billion of that amount to help kick-start its proposed 800-mile, $45 billion statewide high-speed rail network connecting Southern California with the Bay Area and Sacramento payday loans.
“The High-Speed Rail Authority and California will compete aggressively for our share of these funds to supplement the federal stimulus funds we have already been awarded and the state funds committed to the project by the people of California," said Curt Pringle, chairman of the rail authority’s board of directors, in a statement. "We will continue to move forward with building the nation’s first high-speed rail system because we know it will create jobs, economic opportunity for Californians and improved mobility for our state.”