Washington (Platts)--16Apr2009

US President Barack Obama on Thursday again called for a multi-year
effort to build a high speed rail system between major American cities, saying
that investing billions of dollars into the measure would help reduce
congestion and cut down on gasoline use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Obama put $8 billion toward the effort as part of his two-year $787
billion economic stimulus bill signed earlier this year. He also highlighted
his desire to pump $1 billion per year over the next five years into building
the fast, highly efficient trains that he wants to see connect population
centers in different regions of the country.

"Imagine what a great project that would be to rebuild America," Obama
said in a White House speech.

The president was joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood who will be in charge of implementing the program.

Countries in Europe and Asia have pursued their own high-speed rail
systems and the results have been excellent in France, Spain, Japan and China,
Obama said. "It's being done. It's just not being done here," he said.

The White House released a map of the regions of the country where
high-speed rail could be built. The Northeast, South, Texas, Midwest, Pacific
Northwest, Southern Florida, and California are all targeted for potential new
rail.

Obama encouraged other regions to offer plans and said money will
be doled out "purely on merit," adding that "no decision how to allocate
funds has yet been made." The president also said that building the system
would cut oil use by millions of barrels per year and provide new markets for
American technology companies. "We're at the mercy of fluctuating gas[oline]
prices all too often."

He added that building new rail would displace one million cars from US
roads. "I know Americans love their cars and nobody's talking about replacing
the automobile and our highways as critical parts of our transportation
system," Obama said. "This is something that can be done, has been done, and
can provide us enormous benefits."

--Alexander Duncan, alexander_duncan@platts.com