New Report Shows Benefits of Long Term Commitment to High Speed Rail in Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Feb. 9 – The Obama administration’s recent decision to award $40 million in high speed rail funds to Michigan is the first step towards a stronger, faster rail system that will reduce congestion, oil use, and carbon emissions, but there is much still to be done.
That is the message of The Right Track: Building a 21st Century High-Speed Rail System for America, a new research report released today by the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM).
“A national network of fast, frequent, and dependable trains is a critical tool for reinventing the nation's economy. Our state has recognized the need to greatly improve our rail system, and we are committed to building off of the momentum provided by the administration,” said Kara Rumsey, PIRGIM advocate.
The new report analyzes the potential of high speed rail in nine different regions, including the Midwest, and presents eleven public-interest recommendations for how to spend high speed rail investments in the future. According to data cited in the report, the completion of a national high-speed rail network would reduce car travel by 29 million trips and air travel by nearly 500,000 flights annually.
Last month, the Obama administration announced that 31 states will receive a portion of $8 billion in funding to build and plan for high speed rail under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Pontiac-Detroit-Chicago rail corridor will receive $244 million, with $40 million coming to Michigan for station renovation and construction. According to the PIRGIM report, the full plan for the Michigan line would lower travel time between Detroit and Chicago to 3 hours and 46 minutes—faster than driving or flying—and vastly increase the number of roundtrips and the reliability of all train routes in Michigan.
“This project might one day be part of a national network of high speed rail on par with the bullet trains of Europe and Asia, but it is going to take a long-term commitment from all levels of government to plan and fund the system,” said Rumsey. “Without such a commitment, this recent momentum could be lost. We simply cannot afford a false start on high speed rail.”
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The Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM) is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organization.
