WSJ: States Seek Slice of High-Speed Rail Stimulus Funding

From Wall Street Journal: 

States applied for billions of dollars for passenger-rail projects Monday, marking the start of a stimulus program designed to kick-start high-speed rail service in the U.S.  California alone submitted 42 applications, seeking $1.1 billion, according to Bill Bronte, rail division chief at the California Department of Transportation. Virginia asked for $75 million to lay 11.4 miles of track along the busy I-95 corridor south of Washington, D.C. North Carolina applied for six projects totaling $76 million, including work needed to establish faster passenger rail service heading north from Raleigh.  Federal Railroad Administration grants will be awarded beginning in late September or early October, said FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo.