High-speed rail grants awarded under the Recovery Act: hearing before the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, second session, April 20, 2010(Chicago, Illinois).

High-speed rail grants awarded under the Recovery Act : hearing before the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, second session, April 20, 2010(Chicago, Illinois).

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) appropriated $8 billion for high and conventional speed passenger rail. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) was responsible for soliciting applications, evaluating them to determine program eligibility and technical merits, and selecting awards, which were announced in January 2010. This report examines the extent to which FRA: (1) applied its established criteria to select projects; (2) followed recommended practices for awarding discretionary grants; and (3) communicated outcomes to the public, compared with selected other Recovery Act competitive grant programs. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) and subsequent appropriations have dramatically increased federal funds available for high speed intercity passenger rail from $120 million in FY 2008 and FY 2009 combined to $10.5 billion available in FY 2010. Other issues, such as developing industry capacity to supply rail equipment and fostering multiyear public support for such systems must be resolved. This report reviewed: (1) how states started or improved passenger rail services in the recent past; (2) rail industry plans to accommodate the increased passenger rail investments; and (3) Federal Railroad Admin. plans to oversee the use of federal intercity passenger rail funds. Charts and tables.