Home
Join
Donate

The Benefits

The Organization

High Speed Rail: Experience the Benefits

Powerful Economic Benefits

America's current transportation system makes this nation economically vulnerable. Rising fossil fuel costs, supply disruptions, increased congestion, and lack of transit options reduce economic growth potential and expose us to the risk of upwardly spiraling costs and transportation interruptions. Rising costs in particular mean that more of our household and national spending will go to pay for transportation.

High speed rail would be the backbone of an alternative system providing several important benefits:

Reduced Fuel Supply Dependency.

High speed rail saves money and reduces supply disruption and petroleum cost inflation risk by reducing our dependence on a finite energy resource, much of it imported from foreign sources.

Reduced Congestion and Congestion Cost.

High speed passenger trains save money by reducing costs related to congestion, keeping people moving efficiently.

Improved Employee Productivity and Enhanced Employee and Client Access.

Rail travel improves employee productivity and good rail access facilitates new national and international business.

Added Business Investment and Job Creation.

Rail development will create jobs and stimulate new investment-and not just in the rail industry.

[1] Data from the National Rail Plan Progress Report.
[2] View the MWRRI TEMS Report.
[3] Data from Page 8 of the National Rail Plan Progress Report.
[4] Data from the National Rail Plan Progress Report.
[5] View a PDF of the February 2011 OrthoWorx News Release summarizing the study's findings.
[6] See Map 2, page 12 in the National Rail Plan Progress Report: Chicago is among the top in both congested roads and airports.
[7] View the MWRRI TEMS Report.
[8] Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo, in a speech at the 2011 INHSRA Golden Spike Seminar, informed listeners that "the promise of improved [high speed passenger rail] service has brought more than $200 million in private investment" to the downtown area of Normal, Illinois.