DESIGNATIONS AND EXTENSIONS

Designated High-Speed Rail Corridors Map
(click on the map for a larger view)

There are five high-speed rail corridors authorized under ISTEA and six under TEA-21 for a total of eleven corridors. To date the Department of Transportation has designated ten corridors and numerous corridor extensions. The corridor designations and extensions including a clarification of the California corridor are listed below in chronological order beginning with the first corridor designation and ending with the latest extension approved on December 4, 2004. No changes have been made since that date.

• December 18, 1991. Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) (PL 102-240) becomes law. Section 1010 calls for selection of not more than five corridors to be designated as high-speed rail corridors.
• October 15, 1992. Secretary of Transportation Andrew H. Card, Jr. announces designation of the Midwest high-speed rail corridor linking Detroit, MI with Chicago, IL, St. Louis MO and Milwaukee WI.
• October 16, 1992. Secretary of Transportation Andrew H. Card, Jr. announces designation of the Florida high-speed rail corridor linking Miami with Orlando and Tampa.
• October 19, 1992. Secretary of Transportation Andrew H. Card Jr. announces designation of the California high-speed rail corridor linking San Diego and Los Angeles with the Bay Area and Sacramento via the San Joaquin Valley.
• October 20, 1992. Secretary of Transportation Andrew H. Card Jr. announces designation of the Southeast high-speed rail corridor connecting Charlotte, NC, Richmond, VA, and Washington, DC.
• October 20, 1992. FRA Administrator Gil Carmichael announces designation of the Pacific Northwest high-speed rail corridor linking Eugene and Portland, OR with Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC, Canada.
• December 14, 1995. FRA Administrator Molitoris extends the Southeast corridor from Richmond, VA to Hampton Roads, VA.
• June 9, 1998. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) (PL 105-178) becomes law. Section 1103 (c) authorizes six additional corridor designations for a total of eleven including "a Gulf Coast high-speed railway corridor; a Keystone high-speed railway corridor from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and an Empire State railway corridor from New York City to Albany to Buffalo, New York". It also authorizes $250,000 per year for eligible improvements on the Minneapolis/St. Paul-Chicago segment of the Midwest High-Speed Rail Corridor.
• November 18, 1998. In New Orleans, LA Secretary Slater announces designation of the TEA-21 authorized Gulf Coast high-speed rail corridor.
• December 1, 1998. In Charlotte, NC Secretary Slater announces the extension of the Southeast corridor from Charlotte to Greenville, SC to Atlanta, GA to Macon; and from Raleigh to Columbia, SC and to Savannah, GA to Jacksonville, FL.
• December 10, 1998. Secretary Slater announces designation of the TEA-21 authorized Keystone and Empire State corridors.
• December 11, 1998. FRA Administrator Molitoris announces the TEA-21 authorized extension of the Midwest High-Speed Rail Corridor (now called the Chicago Hub corridor) from Milwaukee, WI to Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, in the Federal Register. (Vol. 63, No. 238/ page 68500).
• January 28, 1999. In Chicago, IL Secretary Slater announces the extension of the Chicago Hub corridor to Indianapolis, IN and Cincinnati, OH.
• October 11, 2000. Secretary Slater designates two new high-speed rail corridors for a total of ten and approves extensions of four corridors
  • New designated corridors include:
    • Northern New England corridor with a hub in Boston that will serve destinations in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Montreal and
    • South Central corridor with Dallas/Ft. Worth as its hub that will serve Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.
  • Approved extensions include:
    • Southeast corridor from Macon to Jessup, GA;
    • Gulf Coast corridor from Birmingham, AL to Atlanta, GA (joining the Southeast and Gulf Coast corridors);
    • Keystone corridor from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, PA;
    • Chicago Hub corridor to Toledo and Cleveland, OH, and
    • Indianapolis, IN to Louisville, KY, and
    • Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati (the '3Cs' corridor);
    • The secretary also expanded the previous California corridor designation to include connecting the state's four largest metropolitan areas: the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego rather than specifying a specific route.

• January 19, 2001. FRA Deputy Administrator John V. Wells approves the extension of the Chicago Hub corridor from St. Louis, MO to Kansas City, MO.

• December 8, 2004. Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, (PL 108-447) becomes law. Section 154 calls for extension of the Northern New England High Speed Rail Corridor from Boston, MA, to Albany, NY, and from Springfield, MA, to New Haven, CT.