High speed rail in the USA: don't hold your breath

Though you might want to hold on to your wallet when you read something like this:

A two-hour rocket train between New York and Washington is a step closer to reality after the House passed legislation requiring the federal government to solicit proposals for its financing and development.

When millions were appropriated to upgrade rail service from New York City to Boston, they were talking about reducing travel time to something like two hours or less, with Providence-NYC slightly over 90 minutes. What did we get? The Acela, which is a nice but expensive train, which still takes a good three hours plus -- if it's on time. Only 30-45 minutes faster than the regular regional service, too, mostly due to making fewer stops, and still slower than driving (I routinely make it from Providence to central Manhattan in a bit under three hours, without recourse to any Speed Racer heroics). Maybe this time things will be different, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Posted by David on June 12, 2008 11:22 PM