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"Is Amtrak really capable of providing high-speed rail or is it time to find another solution?" What's the other solution? The best solution would be to foster a competitive market environment where only the best service providers would survive.  Unfortunately, given the dismal economics of passenger rail, no investors will put their money or the money of their stockholders into passenger rail.  So a competitive solution is probably not in the cards. As long as there is only one service provider, i.e. Amtrak for most intercity trains and state or local agencies for commuter rail, the service provider has no strong incentives to do things better, faster, cheaper, which is the key for better service.  One way to improve the situation would be to have the tracks in the U.S. owned by one organization, preferably a private operator, and open them up to anyone who wants to run a train on them and can meet the operating standards.  Unfortunately, the government does not have the money to motive anyone to buy the rights-of-way; the government would have to at least subsidize the transition, and the freight railroads would never allow it to happen. So we are stuck with Amtrak, at least for now, and there is little in the way of constructive alternatives on the horizon.
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