A House panel this week will review opportunities to bring in private-sector investment for passenger rail with the aim of speeding up construction of rail lines and reducing the cost to the federal government.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials will meet Friday to discuss ways to bring in private-sector competition to the nation's passenger rail program. Although states are currently eyeing private companies to operate their high-speed rail lines and offer more financing, there is no formal system in place.

Privatizing rail has long been a pet project of subcommittee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and T&I Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) as a way to move the expensive systems along. Most proposals would have private companies taking financial risk off governments by maintaining or operating the lines while also covering cost overruns.

The two fought to include measures that would open up intercity rail to private-sector competition in a 2008 passenger rail law, but the language did not make it into the final draft.

According to a T&I Committee spokesman, the witness list, which had not been finalized at publication time, will include representatives from Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Association of Independent Rail Operators and an academic expert on rail competition that will draw on international models.

The hearing comes just a week after Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) killed a long-awaited high-speed rail project in his state that supporters, including Mica, had hoped would include hefty private-sector involvement.

Schedule: The hearing is Friday, March 11, at 10 a.m. in 2167 Rayburn.

Witnesses: TBA.