Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Federal Railroad Administration Acting Administrator Karen Rae. She was, for the moment, the point person for Obama’s high-speed rail proposals. I learned that when it comes to planning, high-speed doesn’t translate to 200 mph but to incremental changes even if the top speeds are 79 to 90 mph.
Newspaper and TV headlines blared about $8 billion being spent on high-speed rail. Stories of maglev trails whisking across the desert from Las Vegas to Disneyland were the subject of talk radio. Politicians began dusting off their high-speed dreams and proposals to take advantage of this windfall. Rail car manufacturers began licking their corporate chops.
Alas, $8 billion doesn’t buy much change in the world of railroads.
Dramatic change, like a maglev train is a long way away. For the time being the Federal Railroad Administration is planning on spending the $8 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) dollars as a down payment for the future high-speed rail program that will be funded with $1 billion per year for five additional years.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) the near-term investment strategy seeks to:
• Advance new express high-speed corridor services (operating apeeds above 150 mph on primarily dedicated track) in select corridors of 200 to 600 miles.
• Develop emerging and regional high-speed corridor services (operation speeds up to 90 to 110 mph and 110 to 150 mph respectively, on shared and dedicatged track) in corridors of 10-500 miles.
• Upgrade reliability and service on conventional intercity rail services (operating speeds up to 79 to 90 mph).
The focus is on making investments that yield tangible results within the next several years. That might mean that with strong investment and track changes the New York to DC rail travel time may be improved by 15 to 20 minutes over the next four years. Boston to NYC rail travel time might drop by a quarter hour.
The bottom line is to develop a rail system that connects regions as a compliment to the current highway and air transportation network. Until this current commitment the government never took a broad view of an air/highway/railroad network. The FRA is focused on bringing passenger rail into the normal national transportation discussions and future plans.
Rae, who has worked on passenger rail for decades at state level and local transit programs, admits that these incremental and measurable goals are not sexy and won’t seem dramatic to those who envision speeding maglev train zipping along on elevated tracks. But, her vision is a network where the current rail system is improved tangibly and begins to mesh with other transportation options.
These goals, now part of a strategic plan outlined in a spanking new glossy booklet, Vision for High-Speed Rail in America (PDF), will eventually morph a new national rail plan. The ink has barely dried and no shovels of dirt have yet been turned but FRA is gearing up for action.
This $8 billion ARRA spending, according to Rae, should leave the rail system ready for a shift to higher travel speeds and new high-speed rail technologies. In the meantime, getting 70 mph trains moving at 90 mph and shaving a dozen minutes off travel times between city centers in different regions will be the most realistic and tangible goals.
