US Government Invests $2.5 Billion To Expand its High-Speed Rail Coverage
Investment in High Speed Railway Needed
US vice president Joe Biden announced that the government has ongoing plans to lend $2.45 billion dollars to railway operator Amtrak in order for the company to upgrade its services according to a report in BBC.
The train operator will widen the scope of its high-speed trains that run between Washington DC and the Boston area.
Biden justifies the big fiscal investment stating that "America needs to go big on infrastructure investment."
Inferior Rail Infrastructure
Compared with Japan, France, and South Korea, the US has inferior rail infrastructure especially in the area of high-speed trains.
Amtrak expects to begin operating the new high speed trains sometime 2021. The new trains have a starting speed of 160 mph and will be able to reach maximum speeds up to 186 mph. The trains will also have a larger seating capacity increased by forty percent significantly enlarging the number of passengers that can ride them.
"We need these kinds of investments to keep this region - and our whole country - moving, and to create new jobs," said Mr Biden in BBC.
Highly Congested
According to BBC, the areas of Washington, New York City, and Boston are one of the busiest and congested train routes in the country. 11.7 million riders took the train along that route last year which is the highest number of passengers Amtrak has recorded.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said in BBC that "The Northeast corridor is a national economic engine that carries a workforce contributing $50bn annually to the national GDP."
