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Last month, Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) led a “Whistle Stop Rail Tour” designed to promote U.S. high-speed and intercity passenger rail, according to a press release the chair of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials issued on June 3. The tour began in Washington D.C., moved to upstate New York and culminated in Chicago, where Brown conducted what she termed a “major” hearing on rail issues.

“Everywhere we went there was very strong support for both Amtrak service and high-speed rail,” Brown said in the release. “The only complaints I heard was that there wasn't enough money for rail and that it wasn't coming fast enough.”

So, Brown said: The United States needs to “get serious about funding high-speed rail. “With just $1 billion budgeted for Fiscal Year 2011, we need to find a dedicated revenue source so that states, operators, and manufacturers aren’t afraid to make investments in infrastructure and manpower.”

It certainly will be something legislators will need to think about as they begin to develop and reauthorize the next surface transportation bill, she added.

“There is no one solution that will solve rail congestion,” Brown said. “New and creative ideas from both government and the private sector must be utilized to increase and improve freight rail capacity.”