President Obama flew to Tampa, Florida today to hand out candy (i.e., grant money) to special interests. While there, he mentioned something about how Americans should be saying that there's no reason why other countries can build high speed rail networks and we can't.
May I borrow a trope from the Saturday morning cartoon characters, Phineas and Ferb?
It's time to say "Why yes, Mr. President. Yes there is a reason."
An old railroad guy told me that if you want high-speed rail, you need tracks used exclusively by bullet trains. The American rail system is built for mixed use, and any track that takes a daily pounding from freight trains will not also accommodate passenger trains designed to go more than 100 mph.
That's why high-speed trains along any given rail corridor are expensive, and a whole network of high-speed rail is unlikely, especially if you remember that the average distance between stops or stations in the United States is likely to be greater than the average distance between stops or stations in countries like France and Japan.
UPDATE, February 10: Donald Lambro vindicates my position.
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