Pennsylvania applied for 4 federal grants for high speed rail from the $8 Billion pie:
1.Keystone East Corridor Harrisburg to Philadelphia. – This would be improving the already existing electrified service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. This should be the first priority for high-speed rail and I'm glad to see it made the list.
2.Scranton to New York Rail Passenger Rail Service Program. – This would be a high-speed(?) rail service from Scranton to New York. This is a good idea but I don't see how it could possibly be considered high-speed rail, there is no way it will go about 70 miles an hour on the route they are going to have it take.
3.Pittsburgh High-Speed Magnetic Levitation Project. This would be a Maglev, or magnetic levitation line from Pittsburgh International Airport to Monroeville/Greensburg. – This is a waste of money but has been on the books for years. Maglev just doesn't pay off. It costs way too much for what it provides.
4.Keystone West Harrisburg to Pittsburgh High-Speed Rail Feasibility and Business Plan Study. – This would just be a study to expand high speed electrified rail service from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh. This should be the second priority in our state for high speed rail. The state should really put some money towards upgrading this to 110 mile an hour track like the east side of the state.
It is a shame that Pennsylvania wasn't more ambitious. It appears that some states asked for a lot more. The Lehigh Valley also stands to get no piece of the pie for rail service to either New York or Philadelphia which is a shame considering it is the third biggest metropolitan area.
Read more at: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090718/NEWS/907180355/-1/rss01
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