Another example of an alternative is high speed rail which can serve as an alternative to automobiles and airlines for short trips between urban areas. DOT has proposed a high speed rail corridor in the Midwest between such cities as Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Detroit. Currently more than 10 million passengers a year travel between O Hare Airport and the cities that would be served by the Midwest Initiative about 15 percent of O Hare s traffic. Replacing these flights with high-speed rail would go a long way toward addressing capacity problems at O Hare. Reducing rail travel times in high-speed rail corridors to make rail a realistic substitute for air and highway travel will require substantial investments.
Freight railroads can also play a role.
Helping the freight railroads improve their infrastructure can better enable them to offer service that competes with our trucking industry and lessens the burden on our highways. To improve freight infrastructure, I urge the Bush Administration to strongly support H.R. 1140, the Railroad Retirement and Survivors Act of 2001. To date, no RRIF loans or loan guarantees have been made available. I know that the Federal Railroad Administration is currently working with 19 potential applicants on this program but it is important that the program move forward. As a third major approach, we need to consider short-term measures to limit operations in congested facilities while infrastructure catches up.