Part of President Obama's plan to revitalize U.S. manufacturing includes funds to develop a high-speed rail network. When Obama issued his "framework for revitalizing American manufacturing" in December, he said he would propose an additional $1 billion per year on top of $8 billion Congress already committed to develop high-speed rail.

On Dec. 4, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said more than 30 rail manufacturers and suppliers, both domestic and foreign, had committed to establish or expand their operations base in the United States if they're chosen by states to build high-speed rail lines.

Some of those manufacturers include GE Transportation, Lockheed Martin, Siemens and American Railcar Industries. In a subcommittee House hearing in Pittsburgh last June, GE Transportation CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said his company is prepared to build high-speed diesel-electric passenger locomotives in northwestern Pennsylvania.

"We are ready to partner with the federal government, the states and Amtrak to make higher and high-speed passenger rail a reality by providing locomotives made in the United States of America rather than importing technology and products from overseas," Simonelli said.

The Plan

Obama's plan would include10 major corridors in the United States of 100 to 600 miles in length for high-speed rail systems. Potential areas identified by the president for high-speed rail include lines that would connect the cities of the Pacific Northwest; southern and central Florida; the Gulf Coast to the Southeast to Washington, D.C.; Pennsylvania and New York to the cities of New England; and a central hub network that draws Chicago and other industrial Midwest cities closer together.

So far, state support for the program has been strong, according to LaHood. As of Dec.4, the Federal Railroad Administration had received 45 applications from 24 states totaling approximately $50 billion to proceed with high-speed rail corridor programs and 214 applications from 34 states totaling $7 billion for corridor planning and smaller projects.

When Obama first announced his vision for high-speed rail in the United States, he noted successes in France, where the system "has pulled regions from isolation, ignited growth, remade quiet towns into thriving tourist destinations," and similar stories about Spain, China and Japan.

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