The Midwest received $672.3 million, more than a third of the funding available to the states through today’s High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) program announcement. For the first time, Midwestern states were awarded federal dollars to modernize passenger rail equipment, and also received important additional funding for passenger rail corridor development in the region. MIPRC welcomes this strong affirmation of the region’s plans for fast, frequent passenger service.

Florida’s governor has made a final decision to turn down the $2.4 billion in funding that his state had been awarded through the two rounds of federal High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) program funding. MIPRC hopes that Midwestern states will be given first dibs on that funding, and believes the region has a strong rationale for its request.

Laura Kliewer, MIPRC's director, attended and submitted testimony to the US House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee hearing on Feb. 20 in DuPage County, Illinois. The hearing was part of the committee's listening tour on surface transportation reauthorization. Kliewer asked that Congress include passenger rail development as a key component to any reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program.

President Obama reiterated his commitment to high-speed rail in his 2011 State of the Union address. The President said that "within 25 years, our goal is to give 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail" and emphasized that "(a)s we speak, routes in California and the Midwest are already underway."

We have posted an updated list of MIPRC's advocacy positions; these points have been communicated to Members of Congress and other federal officials in recent months.

Yesterday, the Federal Railroad Administration announced awards to Midwestern states totaling almost half a billion dollars. A number of projects across the region are being funded, including plans to make significant improvements to the Detroit-Chicago corridor and to establish new service between Chicago and Iowa City.

Travelers across the Midwest are taking the train in record numbers, according to FY 2010 ridership and revenue numbers released by Amtrak this month. Almost 2.8 million people took the train on short-distance corridor service within the region last year – an 8 percent increase over FY 2009.

On Tuesday, MIPRC Chair Rep. Elaine Nekritz (Illinois) testified on behalf of the commission before the rail subcommittee of the U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. The subcommittee was holding a field hearing in Chicago on High-Speed Rail Grants Awarded under the Recovery Act.

Today Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson signed HB 2552 into law, which enacts the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact in that state. Kansas is the 11th state to join the MIPRC.

Midwestern states have been awarded $2.6 billion of the $8 billion available to states across the country to develop faster, more frequent passenger rail service.