President Obama to Lay Out Plans for High-Speed Train Travel

Joe Sussman, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also thinks the Obama administration is moving in the right direction, despite the high price tag.

'A Potential Game Changer'

The pros, he said, are that high-speed rail could help relieve airport congestion and could also help the environment by curbing emissions from airplanes and automobiles. Sussman added we should be thinking about regional systems, such as a high-speed train from Tampa, Fla., to Orlando, Fla., and Miami as well as in the Northeast corridor.

"This is not chump change, but it is a potential game changer, I think," Sussman told ABC News.

The high-speed rail priorities laid out by the Obama administration this next week will guide states as they apply for the rail stimulus money. The Department of Transportation expects to start getting grant applications from states this summer.

"As a developed country, for us to have the low-quality rail systems that we have is extraordinary," Sussman said.

"There has never been this degree of commitment to railroad investment and, in particular, high-speed rail investment," added Yachmetz.

"I think we will see it sooner than a lot of people expect," Yachmetz said.

ABC News' Matt Hosford contributed to this report.