Tag: china

America Off Track – Why It Needs a Nationwide High-Speed Rail Network

“In an age where it’s hard to agree about anything, I do think having nationwide high-speed rail as the rule rather than the exception is something most Americans would support if given a choice of whether to fund it.”

Introduction: Connectivity Beyond Broadband and Rocket Ships

Connectivity in the modern age is more than high speed broadband or rocket ships that can go to the Moon or Mars, it can be as simple as connecting major towns and cities together. It is a simply an economic win-win when you think about having high speed rail being as common as any kind of subway, commuter rail, or streetcar. It is an economic investment that pays for itself over time and is a great way to support local to national economies. It is the exact kind of rail that I believe America is lacking outside my home region of the Northeast and which continues to be neglected despite the benefits far outweighing the costs. In an age where it’s hard to agree about anything, I do think having nationwide high-speed rail as the rule rather than the exception is something most Americans would support if given a choice of whether to fund it.

From Railroad Pioneers to Going Off the Rails

Long ago, the United States was the leader in rail across the board especially when the transcontinental railroad was first established connecting the continental nation together from east to west in the late 1860s. Fast forward to the mid-20th century, America decisively turned away from rail and embraced cars and planes as symbols of modernity and freedom. The construction of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s, along with generous federal subsidies for aviation, made driving and flying faster, cheaper, and more convenient than taking the train. As families moved to the new and sprawling suburbs, car ownership exploded, and passenger rail ridership collapsed.

Meanwhile, freight railroads, struggling with shrinking margins, often abandoned or neglected passenger services. Amtrak’s creation in 1971 was a last-ditch effort to save intercity rail travel, but chronic underfunding, outdated equipment, and lack of political will left it unable to compete with well-funded highways and airports. This shift cemented a car-and-plane culture in the United States, relegating trains to a niche role in the American transportation landscape rather than the preferred mode of transportation. Unfortunately, today, it continues to be a disappointing national story as trains and train speeds here are some of the slowest, most infrequent, and bordering on dysfunctional in the modern era.

There are a whole host of factors and finger pointing to go around in terms of how we got to where we are as a nation in 2025 from NIMBYism to the airline and auto lobbies to cost overruns that drain support for any of these high-speed rail projects. However, I’d like to focus first on where America stands now compared to other developed nations and how far the U.S. needs to go to catch up to other nations who have surpassed us in this key area of development.

China Leads, Europe Excels

China is currently the world leader in high-speed rail with the biggest network of high-speed trains on Earth with top speeds clocking in at around 220 miles per hour (350 kilometers an hour). If you look at any map of Chinese high-speed rail, all major cities are connected to each other by a train and often for one day, multiple trains serve each city at different times a day making it a better option than flying within the country. Many more cities in China are connected by high-speed rail than American cities and the trains are much faster by comparison.

Unfortunately, this is not only the case in China but in also much of the European Union. France, Germany, Spain, and Italy all have high speed rail networks that are extensive, fast, and reliable, whose coverage far exceeds the U.S. when you do an overlay of their networks compared to the regional networks in the U.S. or per capita in terms of access despite the size difference. Other major players in high-speed rail include Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, with Thailand, Vietnam, and India looking to start building their ‘bullet’ trains in the 2020s. Even developing nations in Africa such as Morocco have invested in having their own high-speed rail with Morocco’s Al-Boraq line between Casablanca and Tangier having opened in 2018, which is the first high speed train in Africa (approx. 180 miles per hour / 300 kilometers per hour) and not likely to be the last.

High-Speed Rail: A 21st Century Economic Engine

As we get close to being well into the second half of the 2020s-decade, high speed rail investment makes more sense and not less sense. It is a win-win to me economically when you can create jobs in construction, project management, and other related industries. As more economies pivot to clean energy, I find that high speed rail is a more efficient, less polluting form of travel that is also extremely safe and reliable if run well. Regional and local economies can flourish more especially when high speed rail comes to their communities’ bringing tourists and possibly new businesses to set up shop there.

Business travel can expand as well when you don’t have the options of only relying on renting a car, taking a bus, or flying on a plane to get to a conference or a meeting in another city in the same day. Cutting carbon emissions is a goal almost universally shared in 2025 so a keyway to do it is embracing forms of travel that are better for the environment such as high-speed rail. Multiple studies in Europe show that every dollar or euro spent on high-speed rail returns multiple dollars in long-term economic gains. The overall return on investment speaks for itself and that’s why more than ever, nationwide high-speed rail efforts should become a national priority.

America’s Missed Opportunities in High Speed Rail

My love for the Northeast’s Amtrak lines as someone who rides multiple times a year, especially the Acela and Northeast Regional, comes from knowing how liberating it feels to speed past gridlocked highways and soul-crushing airport security. However, I would like to be clear in that what we have in the Northeast United States is the exception, not the rule. The rest of the nation is left with woefully inadequate or non-existent passenger rail options, especially no high-speed rail train options.

California’s notorious and still unfinished high-speed rail project, originally envisioned to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco in under three hours, has become a cautionary tale of political infighting, spiraling costs, and endless delays, now more than fifteen years since voters approved it, the line remains incomplete as of this writing. Texas’ proposed Dallas-to-Houston bullet train, based on Japan’s Shinkansen technology, has been mired in lawsuits and land disputes, while Florida’s once-promising plan for a Tampa-Orlando-Miami high-speed corridor was killed by politics despite federal funding being on the table. These failures aren’t just isolated missteps; they’re a systemic reflection of America’s inability to plan, fund, and execute transformative infrastructure projects in the 21st century.

A Vision of a More Connected America

Imagine for me now a future United States where a high school student in Indianapolis could visit Washington, D.C. on a field trip by getting there in 4-5 hours, or where a business traveler could commute between Atlanta and Charlotte in 90 minutes, turning what’s now a grueling four-hour drive into a swift and productive journey. France’s TGV system, which I have been lucky enough to ride from Bordeaux to Paris has long proven that high-speed rail is profitable and competitive with air travel for distances up to 600 miles, drawing millions of passengers who might otherwise fly or drive in that country.

China’s network, the world’s largest as mentioned earlier, has shrunk travel times dramatically: for example, the 819-mile Beijing–Shanghai route, once a ten-hour slog by conventional train, now takes just four and a half hours. A similar Chicago–New York high-speed line, roughly the same distance, could cut today’s fourteen-hour Amtrak ride by more than two-thirds if it were ever developed and invested in.

The creation and development of a nationwide rail grid could connect major population centers such as Houston, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles with frequent, fast trains. This would wholeheartedly reshape the American economy as we know it and foster new hubs of innovation, tourism, and opportunity in cities both large and mid-sized, and if smaller cities can be added to a more local line with more stops, that’s a positive as well.

Overcoming America’s High Speed Rail Barriers

There’s no denying the hurdles that exist and will continue to slow the development of a nationwide high speed network: federal and state governments have rarely aligned on rail priorities; outdated regulations, such as the Federal Railroad Administration’s archaic crash standards, make it difficult to adopt off-the-shelf European or Asian trainsets; and NIMBYism often turns local communities into fierce opponents of new rail lines.

However, none of these obstacles are insurmountable if America learns from the examples set by other nations. Spain’s national AVE system, for instance, was built with robust public support and clear national commitment, resulting in more than 2,000 miles of high-speed track in a country with less than a seventh of America’s population. Japan’s initial Shinkansen line was completed in just five years, transforming travel patterns permanently, and this is despite being a mountainous island nation where political gridlock can also occur.

America could adopt federal legislation to streamline permitting, incentivize public-private partnerships, and dedicate a long-term funding mechanism like the Highway Trust Fund to ensure reliable and consistent investment. Beyond these present technicalities, it will take real leadership willing to communicate to the American voter that high-speed rail is not a luxury for a developed nation, but a real necessity for economic growth, energy security, and national competitiveness in the 21st century.

Conclusion: It’s Time to Board the Train of Real Progress

I am writing this article on an Amtrak Northeast regional train to Washington, DC ironically but not intentionally because as someone who treasures the unique sense of freedom and connection offered by train travel in the Northeast United States, I believe deeply that every American deserves the same opportunity. This should be the case whether they live in Houston, Detroit, or Los Angeles. We have the financial resources, the technology, and the know-how; what we lack is the political resolve to make high-speed rail a reality nationwide.

Our tax dollars should be able to build systems that make our daily lives better, and there are few investments more transformative than modern, fast, reliable trains that knit together our cities and regions. High-speed rail would give Americans more options, less stress, and cleaner air, while restoring our global reputation as a nation of builders and innovators. It’s time for the United States to leave the station of outdated thinking, board the train of progress, and embrace a future where high-speed rail is not the rare exception, but the expectation for every American traveler.

Note: The views expressed in this article are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinion(s) of any outside organization, firm, or entity.

Works Cited / Endnotes (MLA)

  1. “China’s High-Speed Rail Development.” China Railway Corporation, 2023, www.china-railway.com.cn/en/high-speed-rail/.
  2. “TGV: The French High-Speed Train.” SNCF, 2024, www.sncf.com/en/trains/tgv.
  3. International Union of Railways (UIC). “High-Speed Rail in Europe: A Competitive Advantage.” UIC Publications, 2023, uic.org/IMG/pdf/high-speed-rail-in-europe.pdf.
  4. “Al Boraq, Africa’s First High-Speed Train.” Office National des Chemins de Fer (ONCF), 2019, www.oncf.ma/en/Projects/High-Speed-AlBoraq.
  5. Hurst, Dana. “Morocco Opens First High-Speed Rail Line in Africa.” BBC News, 15 Nov. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46227056.
  6. California High-Speed Rail Authority. “Project Update Report to the Legislature.” CHSRA, March 2024, www.hsr.ca.gov/docs/about/legislative_reports/2024_Project_Update_Report.pdf.
  7. Swarts, Jonathan. “Texas’ Bullet Train Faces Legal, Financial Roadblocks.” Texas Tribune, 20 Apr. 2024, www.texastribune.org/2024/04/20/texas-high-speed-train-lawsuits/.
  8. United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). “Intercity Passenger Rail: Amtrak’s Challenges in Implementing High-Speed Rail.” GAO-21-480, Sept. 2021, www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-480.pdf.
  9. International Energy Agency. “The Future of Rail: Opportunities for Energy and the Environment.” IEA, 2019, www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-rail.
  10. European Commission. “White Paper on Transport: Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area.” Publications Office of the European Union, 2011, ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/strategies/2011_white_paper_en.
  11. Pew Research Center. “Most Americans Support Investments in Infrastructure, Including Public Transit.” 15 June 2021, www.pewresearch.org/2021/06/15/public-views-on-infrastructure/.
  12. American Public Transportation Association (APTA). “Economic Impact of High-Speed Rail.” APTA Reports, 2022, www.apta.com/research-technical-resources/research-reports/economic-impact-of-high-speed-rail/.

The Megacity: A Cacophony of Humanity

“Only from above can you see how such massive populations can occupy relatively small portions of the Earth, while vast stretches of land remain sparsely populated.”

Flying into a megacity offers a unique perspective on its scale as I have done countless times over the years. From the window seat of an airplane, it’s impossible to fully grasp the size of cities like Istanbul, Mexico City, São Paulo, New York, or Los Angeles—cities that house tens of millions of people. Only from above can you see how such massive populations can occupy relatively small portions of the Earth, while vast stretches of land remain sparsely populated.

In these cities, one can sense how humanity has evolved over the centuries, transitioning from primarily agricultural societies to industrial powerhouses, and now, to the complexities of a post-industrial world. The growth of cities, especially megacities, reflects humanity’s ongoing desire to improve civilization, particularly in the realms of efficiency, innovation, and social equity.

In the 21st century, megacities are projected to grow at an unprecedented rate, particularly in Africa and Asia. New cities are expected to join the ranks of those already housing tens of millions of people, with some approaching populations of 100 million. This trend of urbanization is part of a broader pattern that dates to ancient civilizations. From Ancient Rome and Babylon to Athens, our cities have always concentrated power, knowledge, culture, commerce, and industry in urban centers. With a global population of 8 billion and rising, megacities are a relatively recent development, but they reflect historical trends toward greater urbanization. This process will likely continue throughout the 21st century.

More than ever, megacities are testing grounds for technological advancements and infrastructure developments that will shape the future. Whether it’s high-speed rail, autonomous vehicles, smart electricity grids, or renewable energy sources, these cities are ideal laboratories for innovation. Given their size and complexity, megacities allow for large-scale experiments in sustainability, from energy-efficient buildings to advanced waste management systems. These cities are also at the forefront of efforts to address current environmental challenges, integrating technologies that reduce their carbon emission footprint and improve water and energy use.

With millions of people living in near proximity, megacities serve as testing grounds for the social systems that underpin modern life: healthcare, education, and public safety. Cities with large populations can quickly reveal whether social safety nets are effective or in need of reform. These urban centers provide a direct feedback loop for policy ideas and social services, offering a unique opportunity to evaluate and improve the systems that impact the quality of life. The success or failure of these initiatives in megacities often sets the tone for broader national or even global policy shifts.

Megacities are also microcosms of global culture, where different languages, customs, and traditions coexist, creating a vibrant and diverse urban fabric. This cultural mixing is a hallmark of humanity’s increasing interconnectedness. Cities with millions of people can foster greater cooperation, creativity, and tolerance, but they also present various challenges. Integrating diverse cultures and languages in ways that promote social cohesion can be difficult, especially when disparities in wealth, power, and opportunity persist. However, megacities are often sites of cultural innovation and collaboration, where new ideas are born and tested on a global stage.

Cities are often the birthplace of new political ideas and social policies. When these policies succeed, they can be scaled up and implemented nationwide or even worldwide. Urban areas, being more densely populated and diverse, offer the ideal environment for experimenting with solutions to systemic issues, such as education reform, income inequality, or civic engagement. The ability to gather immediate feedback from a large and diverse population means that cities can rapidly assess the effectiveness of new public policies, making them key players in shaping the future of society.

The rapid urbanization of the world since the industrial age brings with it both opportunities and challenges. As cities continue to grow and scale, they will increasingly become the focal points for innovations and social experiments that shape the trajectory of human civilization. At their core, cities reflect humanity’s inherent desire to evolve, improve, and create something greater than us. The drive for progress embodied in the ambition, growth, and efficiency of urban areas mirrors our collective aspiration for a better future. However, this continued growth plans to bring more complexities. As megacities expand, they face the challenge of providing a good quality of life for millions of people while managing the unintended consequences of scale, such as overcrowding, pollution, and social inequality.

The success or failure of megacities in the 21st century has global implications. As urban centers grapple with present challenges like climate change, wealth inequality, and the effects of economic globalization, the solutions they implement or fail to implement will have ripple effects across the globe. From Tokyo to Cairo, from Bogotá to Kinshasa, these cities are testing grounds for humanity’s ability to adapt to a rapidly changing world. The development of megacities is not just a local issue or an urban issue; it is a global concern that reflects our collective ability to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

The paradox of progress is that while we strive to improve our cities and societies, we must recognize the complexities of providing a high quality of life for growing populations. The ambition to create more efficient, sustainable, and equitable urban environments must be balanced with the practical realities of physical infrastructure, resource management, and social integration. If megacities are successful in making responsible choices now, they will be better equipped to meet these challenges in the future. The decisions made today will shape the cities of tomorrow and, by extension, the world at large.

As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, the fate of megacities and urban areas will be intertwined with the well-being of all people. What happens in these cities, whether positive or negative, will affect everyone, whether they live in rural, suburban, or exurban areas. The interconnectedness of our societies means that the success or failure of urban areas will have far-reaching consequences. We must ensure that the policies and solutions developed in megacities are inclusive and benefit all members of society. The prosperity of our cities is not just the concern of city dwellers, but it is a global concern too. This becomes particularly evident to me when I fly over a city or megacity, witnessing its sprawling lights and endless streets, and realizing that the future of our civilization is unfolding in these urban spaces.