House Ups the Ante for High-Speed Rail. By Andrew Taylor,

[iwasthere]

it is a beginning for a new era in mass transit in the Obama's administration.

[irishbobcat]

House Ups the Ante for High-Speed Rail. By Andrew Taylor, AP, July 17, 2009. "President Barack Obama's high-speed rail initiative would get an enormous boost under a spending bill that a House committee approved Friday. Obama sought $1 billion for construction of a high-speed system and other intercity rail lines, which would come on top of $8 billion provided in the economic stimulus bill in February. The House Appropriations Committee decided to provide $4 billion, part of a $123 billion measure covering transportation and housing programs. Rep. John Olver, D-Mass., said the earlier money had generated about $70 billion in grant requests for high-speed rail projects. Democrats turned back a GOP effort to take $3 billion of the rail money and deposit it in the Highway Trust Fund, which is expected to go broke next month."