Bloomberg correctly points out that thousand of miles of high speed rail are being constructed around the globe, while the United States has not one operating truly-high speed train. Countries like Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Denmark and Portugal are moving to build networks of 200+ mph trains, but this is one more area where the United States is falling behind.
Though both presidential campaigns seem reluctant to discuss infrastructure - except for Romney's promise to dismantle key pieces of America's railways - mayors around the country are quick to defend the necessity of maintaining existing passenger rail and upgrading to high speed rail. Bloomberg in particular wants to see Amtrak's vision of true high speed rail along the northeast corridor come to fruition at a $151 billion price tag. It might be expensive, but Bloomberg is right that delay costs the country more than the construction will.
Bloomberg, on the other hand, slams Amtrak's maintenance of poorly performing long-distance passenger trains and lack of focus on busier routes like the northeast corridor between Washington and Boston and California trains between San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
Bloomberg neglected to mention that high speed rail is already under development in the United States - specifically, in California, where the first segment of an ultra-fast rail line spanning the entire state is ready to be constructed after a few NIMBYs hurdles are cleared.
In the mean time, meaningful upgrades to a line between Chicago and St. Louis are almost complete, and plans for a new ultra-fast train along the northeast corridor are in their early stages. Also, in Texas, a private consortium aims to be the first in the world to undertake a major infrastructure project with no public money or planning. If they are successful, they could establish a new model for infrastructure development.
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