I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4838 
To make the Northeast Corridor eligible for high-speed rail corridor 
development grants under section 26106 of title 49, United States Code. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 12, 2010 
Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. 
KING of New York, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HOLT, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, 
Mr. COURTNEY, Mrs. LOWEY, and Mr. PASCRELL) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To make the Northeast Corridor eligible for high-speed rail 
corridor development grants under section 26106 of title 
49, United States Code. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northeast Corridor 
High-Speed Rail Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The Northeast ‘‘mega-region’’ between Bos-
ton and Washington, DC, is the most densely popu-
lated area of the United States, and has consistently 
suffered from airport delays, traffic jams, and rail-
way congestion. 
(2) In fiscal year 2009 Amtrak’s Acela Express 
and Northeast Regional services carried nearly 10 
million passengers on the Northeast Corridor rail 
line. 
(3) The Northeast Corridor rail line connects 
the five most populated cities on the east coast, 
stretching from Boston, MA, to Washington, DC, via 
Providence, RI, and is a critical link in President 
Obama’s vision for a national high-speed rail net-
work. 
(4) In 1991 Congress authorized eleven high- 
speed rail corridors. Of the eleven, three were des-
ignated by Congress and seven were designated by 
the Secretary of Transportation, while there remains 
one undesignated corridor. 
(5) The Passenger Rail Investment and Im-
provement Act of 2008 establishes a high-speed rail 
corridor development grant program and restricts 
eligibility for this program to projects located on a 
federally designated high-speed rail corridor. 
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(6) The Northeast Corridor has not been des-
ignated as a high-speed rail corridor. 
(7) Despite the lack of Federal designation, 
Amtrak’s Acela line, which runs along the Northeast 
Corridor, is our country’s current ‘‘high-speed’’ rail 
line, with top operating speeds of 150 miles per 
hour. While this top speed begins to approach the 
international standard for high-speed trains, Am-
trak’s high-speed service on the Northeast Corridor 
averages only 82 mph between Washington, DC, and 
New York, and only 66 mph between New York and 
Boston due to infrastructure and equipment con-
straints. Considerable investments are needed to 
overcome these constraints. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS. 
Section 26106 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting ‘‘and the 
Northeast Corridor’’ after ‘‘of title 23’’; and 
(2) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘capital 
projects in high-speed rail corridors’’ and inserting 
‘‘high-speed rail capital projects in corridors’’. 
Æ 
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