There are no high-speed rails in the United States. This is what is being developed.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law (the High-Speed ​​Ground Transport Act) that seemed to pave the way for the US national high-speed rail system. “Astronauts can orbit the Earth faster than a man on the ground can reach Washington from New York,” he lamented at the time. In 60 years, it will take about three hours to travel between the two cities. This is about twice the duration of one of the International Space Station orbits.

High-speed rails in the US are still a few years away. However, projects across the country, from Washington to Texas, suggest a growing enthusiasm for faster train services. The scale of these efforts is relatively modest, suggesting connecting two or three cities at a time. But that could just make them viable.

Under the Trump administration, it is unlikely that high-speed rails will receive additional federal support. “There should be a federal program,” said Rick Harnish, executive director of the High Speed ​​Rail Alliance. “But in the current situation, the state needs to do what it can.”

High speed rail 101

Andy Kunz, president of the American High Speed ​​Rail Association, estimates that only about 20 countries around the world have high speed rails. He says it refers to training a system that usually becomes at least 186 miles. Most of them are in Western Europe or East Asia. The only high-speed rail in Africa is Alborak, Morocco. There are no high-speed rails in the Americas yet.

Kunz said regular trucks cannot simply be reused for high-speed rails. The speed involved requires a “closed corridor” with grade separation. This is a feature such as elevated passages and underground passages that prevent cars and pedestrians from crossing in front of bullet trains. High-speed trains do not make the scenery clear. It requires long, straight, progressive slopes and gentle turns.

Currently the fastest train in the US

Today, the Amtrak Acera trains are the fastest railway line in the United States, reaching speeds of 150 mph. Amtrak is preparing to roll out its updated Nextgen Acela Trains along the Northeast Corridor sometime this year. However, the new train will have a top speed of 160 mph.

Even if Amtrak spends billions of dollars on upgrades, Acela will not actually be involved in high-speed games. That's because Acela travels ancient trucks passing through dense population centers that are crowded with other infrastructure. Old bridges and tunnels create choke points. Jostle for freight and commuter routes for access. “Amtrak was building a rail system in the 1890s,” said Seth Moulton, Democrat of Massachusetts.

Brightline – The private rail line currently running between Orlando and Miami is the next fastest line after Acera, topped at 125 mph. The accident is plaguing the line because there is no grade separation. But, as Michael Kimmelman points out, Brightline has become a popular option for many Floridians and tourists.

Pending Railway Projects

Brightline West

ORLANDO, 2024 – A derivative of the company that built the Miami train line broke the ground on Brightline West, the 186-mile train that linked Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, California. With a private landowner. Environmental reviews are due, and end, and passenger services are expected to begin in the second half of 2028.

“This is very easy to build because it's a wide open desert,” Kunz explained. “It's flat,” says few people living in the harsh desert areas where trains pass.

For more information, check out Michael Kimmelman's story about Brightline.

High speed rail in California

“California is our country's first position, and we see a true high-speed rail system here,” then governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed in 2009. It was the early stages of the project, connecting San Francisco at 220 miles per hour, opening in 2020 and becoming a secret from Sandigo in 2027.

However, the problematic project still takes years from completion. For now, the state is focusing on a 171-mile trunk that passes through the central valley. And while California received $4 billion during the Biden administration, there remains a significant shortage in funding.

At a recent press conference, Rep. Kevin Killy, a Republican from California, described California's high-speed rail as “the worst public infrastructure failure in US history.” Tom Richards, chairman of California's High Speed ​​Railroad Bureau, said three challenges have proven lasting. The need to acquire road rights through private property, the incredible costs of moving various utilities, and the costs associated with passing environmental reviews. But the bullet train booster says the challenges are exaggerated.

“Everyone loves ripping it in the press, but the project is as bad as trying to hear it,” Kunz said. “When that happens and is carried out, transport changes fundamentally.”

Cascadia

In the Pacific Northwest, Microsoft is partially funding plans for Cascadia, the high-speed rail line connecting Portland, Oregon. Seattle; Vancouver, British Columbia, is 250 mph. The Federal Railroad Administration also donated $49.7 million.

“They're really organized,” Kunz said.

However, the planning could take another five years as engineers have not yet decided on the route. Bob Johnston, who has overturned passenger railroads for decades for magazine trains, believes that improving services on the existing Amtrak line makes more sense than building an entirely new system, as the Pacific Northwest is already busy with infrastructure.

“They have a will and it's just a tough fight to put into practice,” Johnston said of Cascadia's supporters.

Texas Central

In the early 1990s, a company called Texas TGV proposed a state high-speed network, but only saw its funds fall apart. About a decade ago, Texas Central partially revived its plan with the proposed Houston-Dallas line.

“Then the pandemic was a hit and everything fell apart. It was basically shut down,” Johnston said. However, he believes that the route has many of the same advantages as Brightline West, and that he would call this area the line. “One of the most perfect places where high speed rails really work.”

After reaching the obvious same conclusion, Amtrak took charge in 2023. Last year, the project received a $64 million federal grant, and Amtrak is currently looking for a private company that choreographs the complex dynamics that turn the 240-mile rail line into reality.

The dream of the national system

The dream of the National High Speed ​​Rail Line is being made alive by lawmakers like Massachusetts' representative, Mr. Moulton. Since 2020, Moulton has been touting a $200 billion federally funded high-speed rail system that connects the nation.

In an interview, Moulton argued that connecting the two large cities with high-speed rails would also encourage better connections between the small surrounding cities. “If you build a high-speed rail between Chicago and Boston, it's not only great for Chicago and Boston, but it's definitely transformative for Cleveland, for Buffalo, for Syracuse, for South Bend and Albany,” Moulton said. “All of a sudden, you have access to these great economies.”

He suggested that by compressing huge distances, high-speed rails can do the important task of “truly knitting the nation together.”

The lead initiative is funded through grants from the Ford Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors serves as a financial sponsor. The Woodcock Foundation is the funder of Headway's public squares. Funders have no control over their choices, story focus, editing processes, and do not review stories before publication. The Times holds full editing control of the leading initiative.