Biden in Philly Touts Rail Spending

Vice President announces infrastructure spending plans to benefit Philly

Vice President Joe Biden made a stop at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station on Tuesday to promote northeast rail development.

Biden announced a plan to invest $53 billion over the next six years on the construction of a high-speed rail network in the U.S.

"In a global economy we can't forget that infrastructure is also the veins and the arteries of commerce," Biden said.

Biden is a longtime advocate of train travel. As a U.S. Senator from Delaware he made nearly 8,000 trips between Wilmington and Washington on Amtrak.

President Obama will call for the infrastructure spending in his budget plan to be released next Monday. It will include $8 billion to develop and improve trains that will trravel up to 250 mph.

The Obama administration's push for high-speed rail spending is part of a plan to create jobs and increase American competitiveness.

"If those passageways get clogged commerce is going to suffer and it's going to show up in the bottom line, and it shows up really quickly," Biden said.


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