Full Speed Ahead

The nation's top rail official says high-speed trains could create thousands of jobs

CHICAGO --- Illinois and 24 other states recently competed for around $8 billion in federal funding for high-speed rail as part of President Obama's economic stimulus plan.

At an event sponsored by Northwestern University's Transportation Center, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo said fast trains are part of the Obama Administration's larger transportation goals designed to create a seamless network connecting different regions of the country.

"The bottom line will be to develop services competitive with or superior to air and auto," Szabo said.