That's why business leaders in 12 Southeastern cities have united to speed the expansion of fast trains into Virginia, North Carolina and other Southern states. They call themselves the Southeast Economic Alliance. Hampton Roads' contribution is being shared equally by the chamber, the Hampton Roads Partnership and the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. Local leaders were warned last month at a high speed rail seminar that they're not being aggressive enough about getting connected to high speed rail because it's not a high priority for state lawmakers. High speed rail was launched between Boston and Washington last month on Amtrak's Acela Express.
Plans are under way to extend the service to Richmond in five years.
From there, the line could go south to North Carolina and beyond or east to Hampton Roads, or both. Business and political leaders say getting linked to high speed rail is vital to the region's economy. The Federal Railway Administration has identified eight potential high speed rail corridors in the United States. The Southeast corridor must compete with the others for limited funding. Travel time in the corridor would drop by one-third, according to a study by the Southeast High Speed Rail coalition.