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How do you propose to pay for a national high speed rail system, especially given the severe budget deficit and debt problems facing the United States? In 2007 the President of Amtrak told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Sub-Committee that it would cost approximately $25 million a mile to construct a high speed rail line, comparable to the TGV, in open country, excluding the real estate acquisition cost. It is approximately 2,700 miles from New York to San Francisco.  Thus, at $25 million per mile, it would cost approximately $67.5 billion to construct a high speed line from the Big Apple to the Athens on the Bay, excluding the cost of the real estate, plus the incremental costs of constructing the line through densely populated areas as well over or through the mountains.  When these costs are added to the total cost of the project, admittedly no one knows what they would be' it would probably cost in excess of $100 billion.  And this would be for just one line. In 2007 the average federal subsidy for an Amtrak passenger was $53.48.  By comparison the average federal subsidy for an airline passenger was $4.30, whilst the average federal subsidy for a motorist was $169.12.  However, when shown on a passenger mile basis, which is the relevant basis for comparison, the Amtrak federal subsidy was 24.45 cents per mile, whilst the airline federal subsidy was .49 cents per mile and the motorist's federal subsidy was .0138 cents per mile.  In other words, while the federal subsidy to carry an Amtrak passenger one mile was nearly 25 cents, the subsidy was approximately one half of a cent to move an airline passenger the same distance and less than two tenths of a cent to move a motorist one mile. These of course are not the only subsidies received by the various forms of passenger transport in the U.S.  All of them, to a greater or lesser extent, receive some form of subsidy from state and local authorities.  Including Amtrak! Given the significant subsidies required by Amtrak, for all segments of its operations, it is difficult to imagine a high speed rail system that could be built or operated without massive federal and state subsidies.     Assuming an average TGV speed of 158 mph, it would take 17 hours to go from New York to San Francisco.  It takes less than six hours to fly.  Why would a business person spend 17 hours on a train from New York to San Francisco when she could fly there in less than six hours?  I know very few business persons who would do so or could afford to take the time to do so.
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