The US DOT initiated a competitive application process to award $2.4 Billion in High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) grants, primarily from funding that was returned by Florida in February (and about $38 million remaining in unallocated Recovery Act funding). The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) was published March 11 and the deadline for application was this past Monday (April 4).

Midwestern state DOTs did a monumental job in completing applications for projects/plans that will purchase modern equipment, renovate and build new stations, improve and lay new track, and plan for future improvements. There was one large multi-state application for equipment submitted, along with a number of specific project requests, for a total federal request from the Midwest of about $2.2 billion.

Secretary LaHood announced that they had received more than 90 applications from 24 states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak, with preliminary requests of about $10 billion. MIPRC has asked Secretary LaHood that priority be given to Midwestern states in any redirected funding (see MIPRC news item 3/6/2011).

Attached is an overview explanation of Midwestern state applications submitted, beginning with the multi-state equipment request, and then listing alphabetically by state the individual applications (application overviews provided by state DOT contacts).

Thank you to all the state DOT applicants for their remarkable work on all the applications, as well as to providing information for the overviews. The best of luck to all of you!!