The proposed route would involve trains going 110 miles per hour running south from Washington, DC along two routes: west through Charlotte to Atlanta, Birmingham, AL and Chattanooga, TN and east through Raleigh, NC and Columbia, NC, and on to Jacksonville, FL.
The cost of the proposed lines would be up to $6 billion, but supporters say the trains would generate at least twice that much in economic impact. "We need to sell this because of the economic vitalization it will mean," says U. S. Sen Max Cleland, D-Ga, in a prepared statement.
The Economic Alliance held its summit in Downtown Charlotte to encourage others to work for high-speed transportation. The alliance is a coalition of 13 chambers of commerce from the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee, many of them representing areas along a proposed route.
Cleland says more than half the U. S. Senate is co-sponsoring the high-speed bill. If agreed upon, the project could take up to 15 years to complete.
The High Speed Rail Investment Act would allow Amtrak to sell $12 billion in bonds over the next decade for the project. States would have to provide a minimum of 20% in matching funds.
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David Wilkening
David Wilkening began his long journalism career as a police reporter for Chicago-area newspapers. He became a writer-editor for major newspapers in Chicago, Washington, Detroit and Florida. He has been a business editor, political editor and travel editor for newspapers and magazines. He tried for a while to be a political operative but did better as an adjunct college professor teaching English and journalism. He is the author of several books, both ghost-written and under his own name. He is also a widely published freelance writer who currently lives in Orlando.
