Coming from the right side of the railroad tracks

Gov. Sonny Perdue hasn’t exactly been the biggest booster of high-speed rail in the past.

But there he was in Washington today, meeting with Vice President-and-chief-conductor Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, talking about the future of high-speed rail in America — and promising to spread the gospel of maglev, or something like it, to his fellow Southern governors.

Perdue was one of eight governors from across the country at the closed-door meeting, according to my AJC colleague Bob Keefe,

It makes sense Perdue was invited: federal transportation planners have tentatively suggested two high-speed rail lines run through Georgia — with Atlanta as a primary hub — as part of President Barack Obama’s plans to create a national high-speed rail network.

“He was certainly very pleased with the discussion … and I think he was heartened to hear that there is seemingly a commitment from Secretary LaHood and Vice President Biden for the feds to take a lead here,” Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley told Keefe.

Perdue has switched tracks on high-speed rail. In the past, he has pooh-poohed the idea, suggesting it was too expensive and that not enough people would use it.

Spokesman Brantley said his boss became more of a believer in the promise of high-speed rail after riding the systems in Spain and in China.

“I don’t know that he was ever cool to it … but after you see something [in person] it becomes much more of a reality,” Brantley said.

Something else that might make one a believer: Georgia other nearby entities are working on a proposal to try and get a piece of $8 billion that President Obama has pledged so far toward a nationwide high-speed rail network.

Brantley said Perdue promised the feds he’d reach out to other Southern governors to try and get their backing to work on rail issues as a region.

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