[Updated 10/6 p.m. with FRA announcement]
The Federal Railroad Administration has released its official count of applications received for the second round of high-speed rail grants--that is, the corridor grants-- funded by the economic stimulus legislation, and the numbers are big. FRA says it received 45 applications from 24 states, seeking a total of about $50 billion.
That's on top of the $7 billion states and localities requested in HSR round one, which focuses on individual projects. After those first-round applications came in, FRA said it planned to announce the winners of that round in October. But now after receiving the round-two requests, FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo said that the agency "will be announcing all awards this winter."
Among the states seeking round two grants is New York, which is applying for $7.9 billion for a batch of improvements along the New York City-Buffalo corridor. Most of the funds would be for the Albany to Buffalo portion.
North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue said Oct. 2 that her state has applied for more than $5 billion in high-speed rail grants. The funds would help finance improvements from Charlotte to the Virginia border on a corridor that would end in Washington. D,C,
Virginia is requesting $1.8 billion for 19 projects on the Petersburg-to-Washington stretch of that corridor.
California is seeking $4.7 billion, including $2.18 billion for projects on a planned Los Angeles-to-Anaheim segment; $980 million for a line from San Francisco to San Jose; $466 million for Merced to Fresno; and $819.5 million for Fresno to Bakersfield.
Florida is asking for $2.6 billion for its envisioned Tampa-Orlando line and $30 million for planning for an Orlando to Miami segment.
Pennsylvania weighed in with an application for $3.1 billion. That includes $2.3 billion to build the first phase of a magnetic levitation line in the Pittsburgh area. That "Phase A" would run from Pittsburgh International Airport to that city's downtown.
