Jaunted

It would also have a huge environmental impact. Some estimates have shown that a high speed rail line in the U.S. could eventually take millions of cars off the road, not to mention that it runs on electricity, making it more efficient than its older counterparts.

According to the U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, this is something people have wanted in this country for a while. He recently told NPR, "Anybody that's ever traveled in France or Spain or Japan or China and has ridden on a 250-mile-an-hour train comes back to America scratching their head, saying, 'Why don't we have high-speed rail?'" We feel you, man.

The cost to create such a network would be overwhelming, and though some of the money would come from the stimulus, the states would still be left with a hefty price tag. New York's proposed line would cost around $8 billion alone, and even if the state received all of the money allocated by the federal government for high speed rail, it won't come close to covering the entire cost of building it. This has some New Yorkers, who feel that money could be used for higher priority items like heath care and education, in a tizzy.

Despite the controversy, the president is on board (no pun intended). During a speech back in April, Obama praised high speed rail by saying, "Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation and ending up only blocks from your destination." That does sound idyllic, though in small cities, it might not be that easy.

Thanks to suburban sprawl, many downtowns, especially in upstate NY, don't offer much in the way of public transportation. If the lines do get built, this would be an easy problem to overcome; zipcars or bike rentals are one option. There's also the possibility that the trains would create a resurgence in downtowns, bringing small business, shops, even upscale housing back to smaller cities.

Assuming some of the states who have applied for stimulus money actually receive it and are able to build the high speed lines, it will still be years before they are ready to roll. Guess only time will tell if it will be worth the investment and if we'll, once again, be a country of train-travelers.

What do you think of the possibility of high speed rail in the U.S.? Would you take a train instead of a plane on your next vacation? Let us know in the comments!

Related Stories
· What Would High-Speed Rail Do to Suburban Sprawl? [NY Times]
· New York seeks high-speed rail funds [Democrat and Chronicle]
· Train Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: NPR]