$8 billion could help revive travel by train in the U.S.
(Source: USA Today; Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky, AP)
Americans started falling out of love with trains 50 years ago, when thrilling silver airliners left locomotives far behind. Now, President Obama and leaders in more than 30 states say it’s time to embrace trains again — but newer, faster ones that can transport passengers past gridlocked airports and highways on electrified railroads at up to 200 mph.
They’re betting billions of federal and state dollars that high-speed railroads can someday move travelers between major U.S. cities within two or three hours just as they do in Western Europe and Japan. And along the way, they argue, such systems can ease travel congestion, reduce the nation’s dependence on oil, cut pollution and create jobs.
“For so long, Americans have viewed the automobile and the airplane as our transportation vehicles,” says Anne Canby, a former transportation secretary for Delaware and train advocate. “Until now, rail hasn’t been a major player in the discussion.”
Driving the new-found interest in trains is $8 billion that was tucked into the president’s economic stimulus legislation signed last month.
“People in this country don’t appreciate what modern rail travel is,” says Doyle, referring to the 180 mph Talgo system. “It is as smooth as riding in an airplane without any turbulence.”
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