Hoped-For High Speed Money Mostly Goes Elsewhere

WASHINGTON--Connecticut won a small fraction of the high-speed rail funds it had sought from Washington, snagging $30 million in federal money for the New Haven-to-Springfield high-speed rail project.

Gov. Dannel Malloy lauded the decision, announced Monday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. But the $30 million in federal aid falls far short of $227 million that Connecticut officials had said was needed to complete Phase 3 of the high-speed rail line, which Malloy has made a high-profile priority.

State transportation officials said Monday they were not sure how much progress they could make on the rail line with a $30 million federal contribution, along with the state's own financial commitment of $97 million. The total price tag on the third phase is $324.3 million.

"We are reviewing the project to see what we can accomplish with the additional $30 million," said Judd Everhart, a spokesman for Connecticut's Department of Transportation. "While the $30 million grant is very good news, Connecticut had applied for $227 million."

Connecticut's pitch for the federal money came after Florida's governor rejected $2.4 billion in high-speed rail funds, freeing up that money for other states. Malloy made a particularly aggressive plea, including in-person visits and phone calls to LaHood and other federal Department of Transportation (DOT) officials.

But Connecticut was among two dozen states that sought a slice of the Florida funds. In all, the federal DOT received nearly 100 applications for various rail projects around the country, totaling $10 billion.

On Monday, LaHood announced that from among those, DOT chose 15 states and Amtrak to receive $2.02 billion for 22 high-speed intercity passenger projects. The investment in the Northeast corridor to speed up trains is "unprecedented," DOT said in a news release, and includes a $450 million award to Amtrak to expand capacity and reliability in the region. In all, the Northeast corridor is slated to get $795 million for a range of projects.

In a statement, Connecticut's congressional delegation acknowledged some disappointment but said the federal aid would still bring significant benefits.

"These improvements to Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and Connecticut's New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line are essential to our continued effort to ensure strategic infrastructure investments," the delegation statement said. "While $30 million for the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line is less than we had hoped for, we remain committed as a delegation to continue to seek future funds for this important project."

Among other states, New York was awarded $295 million for new routes that will ease delays to and from Manhattan, along with $58 million to upgrade tracks and operations along the Empire Corridor. Rhode Island got $25 million to design and build a track in Kingston. California got $300 million, part of an effort to build the nation's first 220-mile per hour rail system. And the Midwest will see $404 million in new construction and upgrades, particularly in Chicago and Detroit.

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