(Host) Top Vermont officials are urging the federal government to divert one billion dollars to the Northeast to pay for expanded and improved passenger rail service.
Governor Peter Shumlin joined several other governors in a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
And all three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation wrote to the leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees.
Florida rejected a billion dollars that was intended to pay for high-speed passenger rail. So officials from around the Northeast want the money to be sent to them, instead.
Vermont wants the money to improve track along the western side of the state that would link Burlington, Middlebury and Rutland to Albany and New York City.