The White House today released the list of high-speed rail projects that will share $8 billion in stimulus funds, and, as expected, Western Pennsylvania was largely shut out.

Other than funding for a study of high-speed trains between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, most of the funds for the Northeast involved improving existing services between major cities. A total of $27 million will be dedicated to improving the Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg rail line, with an expected $750,000 of that for a study on extending that service to Pittsburgh eventually.

A proposal to build a magnetic levitation train from Pittsburgh International Airport through Downtown to Greensburg, for which the state had sought $2.3 billion, will get no money.

President Barack Obama was expected to make the formal funding announcement in Florida today. A $1.25 billion allocation has been made for a project connecting to Tampa to Orlando in that state.

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