The State Column

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U.S. Representative John Carney today praised the Department of Transportation’s decision yesterday to designate the Northeast Corridor as the final high-speed rail corridor eligible to apply for the $2.4 billion in rail funding that was rejected by the State of Florida on March 4th.

Secretary Ray LaHood announced the decision in a response to a letter that Rep. Carney sent immediately after Florida’s decision was announced, requesting that the funding be made available to the Northeast Corridor. Rep. Carney’s letter was co-signed by 37 other members of Congress.

“I applaud Secretary LaHood for his decision to allow the Northeast Corridor to apply for this high-speed rail funding,” said Rep. Carney. “The Northeast Corridor has proven to be an important region for high-speed rail, and we will make a compelling case for why the Corridor deserves this funding.”

In his letter to Rep. Carney, Secretary Ray LaHood wrote that “this designation will ensure that States in the Northeast Corridor, which spans the mega-region between Boston and Washington, D.C., will be eligible to apply for funding from existing Federal high-speed and intercity passenger rail programs.”

The funding was allocated for high-speed rail in the 2009 stimulus and the Obama Administration has made clear that they will send the rejected Florida funding to a different high-speed rail project. The application deadline is April 4th.