Do We Have High Speed Railways

A friend of mine just recently visited Japan and he was telling me about how the trains

are very fast unlike the ones here in the United States.

He was also saying that the United States might be investing in These new high speed

railways soon.

The United States And High Speed Railways

With several bullet train projects in California, the Northeast, and Texas, the US

is testing the high speed railway market.

Legal victories in California are finally allowing construction to begin on an LA to

San Francisco high speed railway.

A state ravaged by six of the top fifty most congested cities in the Western Hemisphere

is one of the most reasonable locations to start a trial of high speed railways in the US.

High Speed Railways In Texas

Texas, not far behind California, has five cities in the top fifty most congested cities in

the Western Hemisphere, and not all too surprisingly has plans for one of the longest

high-speed railway systems in the US.

As the second largest state by area and the second most populous state, Texas has both

the space and population necessary to support a high-speed railway system.

The railway is to be privately funded, and has started holding public meetings to get community feedback, while also compiling

information on the environmental impact for federal review of the project.

The high-speed railway planned for Texas stretches from Dallas down to Houston,

traveling through eleven different counties.

So far two routes have been proposed, and several locations have been planned out for

both cities.

High Speed Railways Taking Over The North

Meanwhile, in the Northeast, Amtrak has a $151 billion upgrade planned for its

introduction into the high speed railway business.

The upgrade is for the Washington-Boston section of their track, and would cut down

the commute to forty five minutes instead of the current two hours and thirty minutes.

However, they are not the only company on the block any more.

Northeast Maglev, a privately funded company backed by the Japanese

government, has its sights on a New York-Washington line that would cut the time

from almost three hours down to an hour.

Despite the performance benefits of Maglev technology over other high speed railway

systems, Amtrak has an extensive pre-existing system already established in the region, and

holds a fairly substantial lead in regards to public opinion over the privately owned and foreign

backed Northeast Maglev.