US leader President Biden revealed the 10 intercity rail projects to win the latest tranche of federal funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Ahead of the Las Vegas event, Nevada Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen revealed two private West Coast projects would benefit from the majority of the $8bn on offer.
Along with confirming the LA - Las Vegas line and the California North-South line funding, Biden confirmed federal funds would be assigned to eight other projects.
The country's capital, Washington DC, will benefit from a renewed line south to Richmond, Virginia, and on to Raleigh, North Carolina.
$729m will be spent on a new rail bridge across the Potomac, with funds directed to station and line improvements outside DC.
Other notable projects include $143m spending Keystone West, between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg (both Pennslyvania), improvements on the Montana stretch of the Empire Builder line between Chicago and Washington state, the reactivation of the mail platform at Chicago's Union Station, and $8m improvements on an Alaska Railroad bridge.
Along with immediate physical infrastructure projects, $34m was assigned to the Corridor Identification and Development programme to determine which underserved intercity routes would most benefit passengers.
Some of the beneficiaries include:
- Colorado Front Range: a new North-South rail corridor connecting Fort Collins and Pueblo via Denver and Colorado Springs, where no passenger rail currently runs.
- The Northern Lights Express: connecting Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota and Duluth, Wisconsin, via Lake Superior.
- Cascadia High-Speed Rail: a proposed new high-speed rail corridor linking Vancouver, Canada, to Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR. The line would create a new high-speed route in place of the existing Amtrak service.
- Charlotte - Atlanta: a new high-speed rail corridor linking the Southeast and providing connection to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, a Delta hub.
