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After a Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee approved a fiscal-year 2012 transportation appropriations bill on Tuesday that did not include funding for high-speed rail, the full committee yesterday signed off on an amendment that would provide at least some dollars for the program.

Proposed by U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.), the amendment would restore $100 million for the High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program in FY2012. The money would come from unobligated funds for old earmarks and project funding set to expire through the U.S. Department of Transportation.

President Obama requested $8 billion for high-speed rail in FY2012. The FY2011 budget did not include any funds for high-speed rail.