Speaking at the University of Minnesota Transportation Study Center's Annual Research Conference in St. Paul, Eric C. Peterson, President of the American High Speed Rail Alliance, said the President and Congress should establish a Cabinet-level working group to spearhead the development of America's high-speed rail program.

Calling the introduction and development of high-speed rail in America a transformative event, Peterson told the audience of 500 transportation researchers, government officials and industry leaders that, "this technology and transportation facility has the potential to dramatically change the way this nation moves people and goods. It will have incredible and unimaginably terrific impacts that could affect all areas of our nation, its people and its enterprise."

Peterson add that AHSRA sent a letter to Congressional leaders and the President requesting that this new office coordinate the work of the Departments of Transportation, Energy, Commerce, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security and Defense, as well as the Office of Management and Budget and the Environmental Protection Agency - all areas of national policy that will benefit from, and rely on, a robust national high-speed rail network.

"Aside from all the other benefits high speed rail will bring to our nation-jobs creation, economic renewal, reduced fossil fuel consumption and zero or lower carbon emissions, development of high speed rail is a matter of national security," noted Peterson.

The American High Speed Rail Alliance is a nonprofit advocacy organization whose members are dedicated to creating and sustaining a clean and energy-efficient advanced national high-speed rail system in the U.S.