The plan includes 6400km of new or upgraded railways, rebuilding
240,000km of highway and reconstructing 240km of airport runway.

A key feature of the plan is the creation of an infrastructure bank to
support public-private partnerships in large projects, a significant
shift in the structure of transport investment. "This marks an
important departure from the federal government's traditional way of
spending on infrastructure through earmarks and formula-based grants
that are allocated more by geography and politics than demonstrated
value," says Obama. "Instead, the bank will base its investment
decisions on clear analytical measures of performance, competing
projects against each other to determine which will produce the
greatest return for American taxpayers."

If approved, the measures would allow national passenger rail operator
Amtrak to continue its fleet renewal programme. In a statement Amtrak
said: "President Obama's infrastructure investment plan to advance the
development of a high-speed rail network and modernize Amtrak's
intercity passenger rail fleet is a smart move with major benefits. The
President understands passenger rail is a key component of America's
transportation system and connects the nation in ways no other mode
can. We applaud his vision for the future and his commitment to make
the needed investments now to advance and bring to reality the next
generation of passenger rail."