High-speed Rail in The United States

High-speed rail in the United States currently consists of one high-speed rail line: Amtrak's Acela Express runs on the Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C. Unlike Asian or European systems, the Acela shares its tracks with conventional rail and has an average speed of 84 mph (135 km/h) for the entire distance with brief segments up to 150 mph (240 km/h). By comparison, high-speed trains between Tokyo and Kyoto run an average speed of 137 mph (220 km/h).

Despite almost 50 years of planning for high speed rail beginning with the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965, in 2012, Amtrak proposed a $151 billion plan to build its first dedicated high speed rail line by 2040. The proposed rail line would allow for top speeds of 220 mph (354 km/h), and reduce train congestion in the Northeast Corridor after its first stage of construction is completed in 2030, cutting trips between New York City and Washington, D.C. to 94 minutes.

A federal allocation of $8 billion for high-speed rail projects as a part of the 2009 stimulus package has prompted U.S. federal and state planners to coordinate the expansion of high-speed service to ten other major rail corridors,. However, governors of some of the states where the corridors were to be built have cancelled the projects.

America's first dedicated high-speed rail infrastructure is likely to be in California between Anaheim and San Francisco via Los Angeles and San Jose but will take at least until 2028 to complete, and even its first stage will not be completed until 2017, after President Obama has left office. In September 2012, the Federal Railroad Administration endorsed California's plan to begin the construction of the first operating segment between Merced and Fresno. The New York Times notes that other countries have built high speed rail lines relatively quickly and China has built 5,000 miles of dedicated high speed rail lines in only 6 years.