Lautenberg: NEC can seek Florida HSR funds

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said Monday states within Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) can apply for $2.4 billion in federal funding originally targeted toward Florida’s high speed rail plan, rejected earlier this month by Fla. Gov. Rick Scott and upheld unanimously by the state’s supreme court.

The NEC, the sole U.S. rail route approaching anything comparable to true passenger high speed rail, had been considered on many levels separate from other HSR route proposals identified by the federal Department of Transportation.

But in a letter dated March 14 to Sen. Lautenberg, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (pictured at left) said, “I’m pleased to inform you I have designated the Northeast Corridor as the eleventh and final High-Speed rail corridor … This designation includes the existing Northeast Corridor main line and any alternative routings for train service between the metropolitan areas of Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; and Boston, Massachusetts.”

The designation, said LaHood, means Amtrak’s NEC “will be eligible to apply for funding from existing federal high speed and intercity passenger rail programs.” 

“This announcement is a victory for New Jersey and the Northeast Corridor,” Lautenberg said in response.“The Northeast Corridor is critical to the economic success of New Jersey, and increased speeds and improved service will help our commuters, businesses and families.” 

Other senators representing the NEC, including from Connecticut and Delaware, have argued that the NEC received less than 2% of a combined $10.5 billion set aside for U.S. HSR projects.

Lautenberg and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), joined by Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman, last month unveiled a new plan to improve NEC capacity between New Jersey and New York under the Hudson River, with an initial estimated price tag of $13.5 billion.

Several rail advocacy groups critical of an earlier trans-Hudson capacity plan spearheaded by New Jersey Transit have been more supportive of the successor plan, dubbed “Gateway Tunnel,” with one group earlier this month urging Lautenberg and Menendez to seek the $2.4 billion in federal funding rejected by Florida.

But NEC states, either singly or in a unified block, won’t be the only ones seeking redirected funding; numerous other states have signaled their willingness to apply redirected federal funding toward HSR or higher-speed rail (HrSR) projects planned or under way.