Revised July 8, 2005

This paper provides guidance to proponents of new or improved high-speed intercity rail services or systems. The Federal Railroad Administration makes this paper available to suggest the level of analysis and planning necessary to progress a program or project of this type. In the past, the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak have collaborated on a number of occasions to prepare a long range planning document for various rail corridors that have been called master plans or transportation plans. These studies attempt to take into full account the plans of intercity rail passenger service, local commuter rail services and the rail freight operators over a relatively long period of 20 years. The relatively independent plans of these various operators are synthesized into one long-range plan so that many incremental projects planned by each party over this 20-year period will collectively provide the infrastructure to permit the various services to coexist without degrading the various operations. 

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