(Washington, DC) - Just one week ago, Congresswoman Corrine Brown, the Railroad subcommittee Chair on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, held a Transportation Committee roundtable on high speed rail manufacturing in the United States.  The event, which was widely attended by panelists in the transportation industry, as well as by many committee members, discussed high speed rail for America's future, and the possibility of establishing production lines for high speed rail engines and cars domestically.  Congresswoman Brown has been a staunch advocate of high speed and commuter rail for years, and has been battling with the state legislature in Florida to obtain approval of an initial commuter rail system in Central Florida, which will, in effect, lay the groundwork for a high speed rail line traveling statewide.
 
"Indeed," said the Congresswoman, "commuter rail and high speed rail are inextricably linked.  You cannot have one without the other."  "And although there is federal funding available for high speed rail lines:  $8 billion for various High Speed Rail corridors in the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, an additional $4 billion in the 2010 Transportation Appropriations bill that recently passed the House, and $50 billion is being dedicated to high speed rail over the next six years in the future surface transportation reauthorization bill being developed by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the Congresswoman.
 
The Congresswoman continued:  "That said, there is a lot of excitement and federal dollars being targeted for high speed and commuter rail transportation systems in the very near future.  I believe we need to start with two or three successful, high quality lines, regardless of their location, and once their success becomes evident, other rail lines will follow inevitably.  Just one week ago in fact, the Department of Transportation announced that it had received 278 pre-applications for high-speed and intercity passenger rail funding, totaling $102 billion, so it is clear that there is significant support for High Speed Rail in Congress and throughout the country."

And once we have two to three lines up and running, the benefits of high speed and commuter rail investment will become evident both to the American people and to policymakers in Washington.  These initial rail lines, would then serve as a successful model (much like the TGV in France, the AVE in Sprain, and the Trans rapid Maglev system in Germany and in China), would spark the construction of future projects.  For me, as the Chair of the Rail subcommittee, the eventual goal is to have commuter and high speed rail lines connecting nationwide to serve as an alternative to our current limited methods of transportation."

Moreover, if the goal of nationwide high speed and commuter rail is realized, the system will not only serve as a tremendous benefit to our nation's transportation needs, but will also be a superb asset towards getting thousands of people back to work by creating quality jobs in our economy's manufacturing sector."

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