High Speed Rail in the USA

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I wonder if a little bit of investment on one high speed corridor to show off the potential of high-speed rail would kick start a trend of other states following to get their own high speed line?

The case of the Acela Express from Washington--New York--Boston has already reduced demand for air travel within that region. But even though AMTRAK classes the service as 'High Speed' the 454 mile journey takes 7 hours! That's only an average speed of 65mph.

Acela Express

Like the American line, the Virgin Pendolino service from Glasgow to London has to share the conventional line with freight trains but still manages to complete the 401 mile route in just over 4 hours, averaging just under 100mph despite a lower maximum speed of 125mph compare with the 150mph top speed of the Acela.

Virgin Pendolino

For comparison with a dedicated high-speed service, the Eurostar from London to Paris completes the 307 mile journey in just over 2 hours with an average speed of 136mph (186mph max).



Amtrak wouldn't have to spend a fortune building specialised high speed rail. Surely moderate investment on the current lines would be able to increase speeds on many inter city routes by 50+mph, making them competitive with short haul airlines.