While the UK government’s proposals for domestic High Speed lines won’t be known until the end of this year, dozens of projects have been put forward in the United States following President Obama’s planned investment of $8bn (£5bn) to stimulate rail projects.
As part of the US anti-recession budget, President Obama pushed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This included $8bn to encourage development of High Speed rail projects — but the projects now proposed amount to seven times the original budget allocation, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. The FRA says it has received a total of 259 grant applications from 34 different states requesting a total of $57bn (£36bn).
The size of the total seems to have taken Washington by surprise: the Obama administration says it is now delaying decisions on how High Speed rail projects might go forward, and no date has been announced.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Transportation has reported attempts to defraud potential recipients of grants under the Recovery Act, with requests for confidential financial information which appear to come from the government. The DOT said it is working with law enforcement agencies to track down those responsible.