Train veteran Biden unveils 53-billion-dollar US rail expansion

Feb 8, 2011, 18:05 GMT

Washington - US Vice President Joe Biden, a veteran train commuter, took the lead Tuesday in laying out a plan for the United States to drastically expand its rail network, which has long lagged behind much of Europe and Asia.

At a busy train station in the heart of Philadelphia, Biden laid out a six-year, 53-billion-dollar investment in rail travel, including an expansion of train lines to some far-flung US cities and the beginnings of a high-speed rail network between major cities.

During more than three decades as a US senator, Biden was famous for commuting daily by train from his home state of Delaware to the US capital Washington. The journey has long made him a key supporter of expanding public transportation in the United States.

'As a long time Amtrak rider and advocate, I understand the need to invest in a modern rail system that will help connect communities, reduce congestion and create quality, skilled manufacturing jobs that cannot be outsourced,' Biden said. 'This plan will help us to do that, while also increasing access to convenient high-speed rail for more Americans.'

President Barack Obama made new infrastructure investments a priority in his annual State of the Union speech before Congress last month. But the plan, to be included in Obama's 2012 budget next week, faces major opposition from Republican lawmakers who have demanded major cuts in government spending.

The United States already invested about 10 billion dollars in rail over the past two years, mostly as part of Obama's 2009 stimulus package to pull the economy out of recession.

The plan has already run into opposition from US states run by conservative governors, some of whom rejected federal funding for high-speed rail projects that they viewed as a waste of taxpayer money.