Coalition forms to advocate for federal high-speed rail dollars

The U.S. High Speed Rail Coalition (USHSR) has launched a campaign to ask Congress to include $205 billion in funding for high-speed rail in the pending infrastructure bills.

The coalition of public interest, labor, environmental and business groups also seeks more robust labor standards and the creation of a high-speed rail development authority and rail trust fund.

The campaign for high-speed rail has already attracted the support of 80 members of Congress. U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.,) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.), and U.S. Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) are at the forefront of calls to include federal funding for high-speed rail in a reconciliation bill, USHSR officials said in a news release. 

"The United States is the only major industrial nation that does not have high-speed rail. In France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the U.K., high-speed rail lines crisscross these nations," said USHSR President Andy Kunz. "China built a brand new system of 23,000 miles of high-speed rail in just the last 14 years. The U.S. has none. We are launching this campaign to finally bring high-speed rail to the United States."