Importance of government funding for High Speed railways
"My high-speed rail proposal will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America. We must start developing clean, energy-efficient transportation that will define our regions for centuries to come," Mr Obama said at a press conference. A total of $8 billion (£5.4m) in funding has already been set aside in the President's stimulus package for updating existing rail lines, and an additional $1 billion will be spent annually over the next five years towards the creation of ten regional high-speed corridors. This article from http://is.gd/tBBR the telegraph.co.uk supports the message at recent conferences (EuroRail 2009 and The Future of European Rail) that for Europe to continue to build on its existing infrastructure, investment is a key factor to bringing the modal shift set out by the EU white paper back in 2001.
