Rail Passengers Praise President Obama’s High Speed Rail Vision
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Release #09-05—April 16, 2009
Washington D.C., April 16, 2009—NARP President and CEO Ross Capon issued the following statement after attending President Obama’s unveiling of the Administration’s Vision for High-Speed Rail in America, the mandated strategic plan that should be available by this afternoon is now available on the DOT’s website.
“It was truly an honor to be present when, for the first time in my 34 years with the Association, a President of the United States delivered a speech on passenger trains that I would have been proud to have authored, backed up by the unprecedented $9.3 billion for intercity passenger trains in the Economic Recovery law.
“President Obama hit exactly the right tone by:
- underlining the many reasons why we need to invest in passenger trains, including economic competitiveness, giving travelers an efficient travel choice and producing major environmental benefits including reduced carbon emissions;
- noting that the tasks at hand include both improvement of existing rail lines so trains can go faster and creation of world-class high speed systems such as Californians voted for in November; and
- emphasizing that the Recovery law funds and the $5 billion planned for future budgets represent ‘just a first step…we know this is going to be a long-term project.’
“Vice-President Biden and Secretary LaHood were equally eloquent. The Vice-President noted that, while most Recovery Act money is aimed at short-term job creation, part of the funds are reserved for projects with long-term benefits, including world-class high speed rail. He singled out three key people who made today’s announcement possible: Secretary LaHood, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and President Obama.
“The Secretary said, ‘Our journey is just beginning. This will be one of the legacies of the Obama Administration, this will be their transportation legacy.’
“The National Association of Railroad Passengers is thrilled with this initiative and looks forward to working with the Administration to make this successful. Our Board of Directors recently voted to make President Barack Obama the first sitting President to be honored with our George Falcon Golden Spike Award.”