{"id":30553,"date":"2023-12-11T13:11:30","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T21:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=30553"},"modified":"2023-12-11T13:11:30","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T21:11:30","slug":"high-speed-rail-gets-a-multibillion-dollar-white-house-boost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/11\/high-speed-rail-gets-a-multibillion-dollar-white-house-boost\/","title":{"rendered":"High-speed rail gets a multibillion-dollar White House boost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.axios.com%2FsFzllvYnF5dHsdRT1dabBSCo--I%3D%2F0x0%3A1080x1080%2F52x0%2F2022%2F08%2F11%2F1660226175846.jpg&amp;w=320&amp;q=75\" alt=\"headshot\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/authors\/afitzpatrick\">Alex Fitzpatrick<\/a>, author of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/newsletters\/axios-whats-next\">Axios What&#8217;s Next<\/a> (axios.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/s3ysGRyuwxYeX81Yzfa2Z_8r15A=\/0x0:3200x1800\/1920x1080\/2023\/12\/08\/1702047962449.jpg?w=1920\" alt=\"Illustration of Ben Franklin wearing a train conductor hat.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Illustration: Allie Carl\/Axios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Biden administration&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2023\/12\/08\/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-billions-to-deliver-world-class-high-speed-rail-and-launch-new-passenger-rail-corridors-across-the-country\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a>&nbsp;Friday the largest federal investment in passenger trains in decades, with $8.2 billion in new funding for high-speed rail and other projects nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it matters:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2019\/02\/12\/high-speed-rail-united-states-green-new-deal\">Rail travel<\/a>&nbsp;is considered a relatively clean way to get lots of people from point A to B, especially compared with aviation \u2014 but the U.S. rail network is sorely lagging behind that of peer nations in Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Driving the news:&nbsp;<\/strong>The big highlight is two multibillion-dollar packages for planned high-speed rail projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>One would connect Las Vegas, Nevada, and Rancho Cucamonga, California (just east of Los Angeles) using electrified trains.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It&#8217;s expected to carry more than 11 million passengers annually, the White House said, with roughly two-hour trips \u2014 half the typical drive time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It&#8217;s being built by Brightline, a private train operator that&#8217;s been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/miami\/2023\/09\/22\/train-route-orlando-debuts-brightline\">expanding across Florida<\/a>&nbsp;and is now setting its eyes westward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The other package<\/strong>&nbsp;would provide for high-speed rail travel between Bakersfield and Merced, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The new all-electric trains &#8220;will produce zero emissions and be powered by 100% renewable energy,&#8221; per the White House.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meanwhile,<\/strong>&nbsp;new investment will support improved train infrastructure in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, the Washington, D.C. area, Chicago and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yes, and:&nbsp;<\/strong>New Amtrak service connecting Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/cleveland\/2023\/12\/07\/passenger-rail-trains-expansion-amtrak-ohio\">also on the table<\/a>, as is a line&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/politics\/scranton-new-york-amtrak-pennsylvania-route-biden-casey-20231205.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">connecting<\/a>&nbsp;Scranton and New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>And Amtrak and Texas Central (another private high-speed rail company) are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/houston\/2023\/08\/09\/houston-dallas-bullet-train-high-speed-rail\">exploring a partnership<\/a>&nbsp;around Houston-Dallas service.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The big picture:&nbsp;<\/strong>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2021\/11\/15\/biden-signs-infrastructure-bill-law\">2021 bipartisan infrastructure law<\/a>, which been a key part of President Biden&#8217;s domestic agenda, is helping to fund these rail projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Biden administration&nbsp;announced&nbsp;Friday the largest federal investment in passenger trains in decades, with $8.2 billion in new funding for high-speed rail and other projects nationwide. Why it matters:&nbsp;Rail travel&nbsp;is considered a relatively clean way to get lots of people from point A to B, especially compared with aviation \u2014 but&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/11\/high-speed-rail-gets-a-multibillion-dollar-white-house-boost\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[549],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30554,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30553\/revisions\/30554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}