5 <p>President Obama has followed up quickly on his "state of the union" pledge to support high-speed rail, awarding $1.23 billion to projects in Illinois.</p> <p>"There&rsquo;s no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains," Obama said in his address to Congress last night.</p> <p>Illinois' funding will mostly pay for new high-speed&nbsp;infrastructure for service between Chicago and St. Louis.</p> <p>The money will come from&nbsp;<a href="http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/04/obamas_highspeed_rail_this_is.html">$8 billion earmarked in last year's stimulus package</a>.</p> <p>Indeed, Obama touted <a href="http://www.chicagocurrent.com/articles/30937-Study-Transit-spending-creates-more-jobs-than-highway-stimulus">high-speed rail's stimulative value</a> last night, promoting a high-speed rail line&nbsp;he'll break ground on in Florida today.</p> <p>"There are projects like that all across this country that will create jobs and help our nation move goods, services, and information," he said.</p> <p>Illinois officials had hoped to get as much as $4.5 billion in funding for high-speed rail, but Sen. Dick Durbin <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-high-speed-rail-20100127,0,4263332.story">told the Chicago Tribune</a> Illinois would take what it could get.</p> <p>"At the end of the day, Chicago is still the rail hub of America, and it will be the high-speed rail hub of America," Durbin said. "That is good for us, good for the communities that are nearby and good for people who work construction jobs."</p> 2010-01-28T12:41:04-06:00 1 31036 1 41 0 Illinoistoget123billionforhighspeedrail 1 President Obama follows up quickly on transportation funding discussed in state of the union address 5 211