Texas Gets $15 Million for High-Speed Rail

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $2 billion worth of funding today to expand high-speed intercity rail travel.  $15 million of that is coming to Texas.

The funding will go toward engineering and environmental work on a high-speed rail corridor between Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told reporters that the investments will "create jobs, spur economic development and boost manufacturing in their communities."  None of the funding announced today included money for a proposed rail project linking San Antonio with Austin.

Most of the funding—$795 million—went to improving rail infrastructure in the Northeast Corridor, between Boston and Washington, D.C.