§22705 Content

Summary

States must make a rail plan that explains their rail system and what they want rail to do. The plan must list and describe the state’s current rail lines and services, and review all lines including proposed high-speed corridors and lines not in use. It must set passenger rail goals and minimum service levels. The plan must look at rail’s transportation, economic, and environmental effects (for example congestion, trade, air quality, land use, energy use, and community impacts). It must include a long-range investment program for freight and passenger rail, explain public financing and funding sources (including subsidies and tax issues), identify infrastructure problems after talking with stakeholders, review major intermodal links such as seaports and ways to better connect rail with other travel modes, list publicly funded safety and security projects (including major projects funded under section 130 of title 23), evaluate passenger rail performance and possible improvements, and gather studies and funding plans for high-speed corridor development not in earlier plans. The long-range investment program must list rail capital projects the State expects to do or support and give a detailed funding plan. For each project the list must describe the expected public and private benefits and explain how public funding relates to those benefits. When choosing projects, the State should consider private contributions, rail capacity and congestion, effects on highways/air/marine systems, regional balance, environmental impact, economic and job effects, and projected ridership and service measures for passenger projects.