Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, believes the Midwest and Minnesota are well-positioned to secure new rail funding before California. Oberstar believes the federal $4 billion high-speed rail initiative will be launched in the Midwest
Oberstar confident of Midwest rail plan
Congressman believes it’s positioned well for $8 billion
By BILL HANNA
Executive Editor
Published: Saturday, June 27, 2009 10:00 PM CDT
WASHINGTON — Will the federal $4 billion high-speed rail initiative be launched in California or the Midwest, which would then touch on Minnesota?
The answer is clear to U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., who is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. And it’s not just because of the Chisholm native ‘s obvious affinity for the nation’s Heartland. It’s because he believes Midwest officials have done their homework and the area is far ahead of California on the issue.
“This really should be called the Rudy Perpich high-speed initiative. The former governor (of Minnesota from Hibbing) and I talked about it back in 1989 and ‘90. I think it’s looking very good for the Midwest to get the high-speed initiative,” Oberstar said in a recent interview.
Karen Rae, deputy administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, said recently that the Midwestern states’ proposal and one from California are the leading candidates for $8 billion in stimulus money for a new high-speed rail project. She cited the cooperation of eight Midwest states to formulate a network plan with Chicago as a hub and 12 metropolitan areas — including the Twin Cities — within a 400 mile-radius.
Oberstar compares it to the hub-and-spoke airline system, with a few major hubs and several arterial sites connected to them. The proposed Duluth-to-Twin Cities Northern Lights Express would be considered a feeder line to the Twin Cities. But Oberstar said the Northern Lights Express project, which has been moving ahead for a few years now, is not reliant on the stimulus package high-speed money. “It is independent of the high-speed rail Oberstar visited Chicago last August and had a 2 1/2-hour bike ride along the city’s Lake Michigan shoreline with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and his chief of staff. The congressman said the focus of conversation was a pending rail safety and Amtrak funding bill. What followed was passage of the bill in Congress and a signature into law by then President George W. Bush.
Another meeting in Chicago after Barack Obama was elected president in November was held between Oberstar and Mayors Daley and Chris Coleman of St. Paul.
“I told them, ‘You two mayors need to take the lead and mobilize Midwest governors.’ And they did,” Oberstar said. “It was like the perfect political storm coming together for this project with the president being from Illinois.”
That helped lay the groundwork for the cooperative Midwest high-speed rail proposal. “This is why the Midwest is probably the leading candidate for the funding,” Oberstar said.
The congressman said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty initially was slow to come to the project. “But (Minnesota) Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel took over with a workmanlike fashion and did a good job,” Oberstar said.
The Federal Railroad Administration has set July 10 for pre-applications and an Aug. 24 deadline for most final application papers. The FRA plans to release the first round of grants by mid-September.
Oberstar said the project would be highly beneficial to the Iron Range and its taconite mines. “These will be high-speed trains going more than 100 miles per hour. That will need a lot of steel, high-quality American-made steel,” he said.
