How to Keep High-Speed Rail Alive

High-speed rail was one of the marquee projects of the 2009 federal economic stimulus, already garnering roughly $7.5 billion of the $10.1 billion that Congress has directed to the program since then. Two years later, there’s significantly less financial love for the idea. A transportation and housing bill for next year initially had no money for high-speed rail, but the Senate Appropriations Committee squeezed in $100 million at the last minute. It’s something, but far short of the additional $8 billion President Barack Obama had hoped to get for 2012.

With funding drying up and the economy still running at a slower pace, hugely expensive projects like high-speed rail would seem doomed. But according to a new report, high-speed rail is not dead. “High-Speed Rail: International Lessons for U.S. Policy Makers,” published today by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, argues that high-speed rail can become a reality by tightening focus and thinking more creatively about how the projects are funded and managed.