After last weeks train derailment in Philadelphia that killed 8 people, I have been reading about Amtrack and railways in America in general.

I find it astonishing that the US only spends $1.1billion per year on its railways, compared with China that spends over $110billion. The US has less than 1000 miles of electrified railways compared with over 5000 electrified miles in the tiny UK.

Surely in the US the ideal mode of transport between cities would be high speed 200mph trains? I know that there is a high speed service between Boston and Washington DC and one proposed between L.A and San Francisco but why are they so far behind China and Europe?

Is it that the domestic flight industry is so big that it has the power to prevent investment in the railways? Or is there just no appetite from the American public for train travel?