High-speed rail service at speeds rivaling trains in Europe and Asia?

U.S. Awards $2.4 Billion for Passenger-Rail Projects  By JOSH MITCHELL

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration Thursday awarded $2.4 billion in grants to advance passenger-rail projects in 23 states, amid election-season criticism from some Republicans that the projects are too costly.
More than a third of the money, about $901 million, will go to California, including $715 million to begin building high-speed rail lines in the Central Valley between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Florida will get $800 million for new intercity routes there.
The rest of the $2.4 billion pot, funded largely by this year's budget, will pay for upgrades to existing routes in the Midwest, Northeast and other areas to relieve congestion on freight railroads.
The Obama administration's goal for the new California and Florida routes is eventually to offer high-speed rail service at speeds rivaling trains in Europe and Asia. The corridors would connect Sacramento and San Diego in California, and Orlando, Tampa and Miami in Florida. The projects have already received stimulus funds, and construction is expected to start in the next two years.
Iowa was awarded $230 million for upgrades that will allow passenger-rail service through Iowa City, Chicago and the Quad Cities. Michigan will get $161 million for service between Detroit and Chicago.
The administration earlier this year awarded $8 billion in stimulus money for dozens of passenger-rail projects.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Thursday highlighted the jobs the rail projects could create, and compared the effort to modernize the national rail network to the construction of the interstate highway system under the Eisenhower administration.
Critics of the administration's rail program say the projects could leave states on the hook for millions and possibly billions of dollars in construction and operating costs at a time when they are struggling to balance budgets.
The funding announced Thursday requires that states cover 20% of the cost of a project receiving funds. Very few passenger-rail systems break even, so states could be asked to cover operating losses, as the government already does for Amtrak.
New Jersey's Republican Gov. Chris Christie this week halted a $9 billion project to build a rail tunnel under the Hudson River, saying the project would saddle the state with unsustainable costs. Republican candidates in California, Ohio and Wisconsin also have criticized the administration's high-speed rail projects in their campaigns.