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[quote user="ns3010"] We all know that, compared to the rest of the world, we are way behind in the race of high speed rail travel. [/quote] During the 1960s, if I remember correctly, proponents of the SST (Super Sonic Transport) argued that we had to build one, and the federal government had to put up most of the money.  If we did not do so, the Europeans would become the dominate commercial airplanes builder, and the U.S. aircraft industry would be relegated to second class status.  Fortunately, it did not turn out that way.  The Europeans built an SST, which from a commercial perspective was a dismal failure.  They airlines that operated them never came close to breaking even on them let alone turning a profit.  Eventually, as we know, the SST was retired. The lesson to be learned from the SST debate is that the United States needs to adopt transport solutions that best fit its needs.  What other countries are doing is irrelevant, other than the U.S. can sometimes develop insights from their best practices that might be applied here.  Given the cost of HSR, in particular, I believe the best passenger rail solution in the U.S., which is applicable only in high density corridors where the construction of addition highway and airway capacity is impracticable, is rapid rail, i.e. frequently scheduled trains running at an average speed of 80 to 85 mph.
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