why doesn't America embrace high speed trains?

Their bellies get in the way.

why the metro/subway remains so undeveloped in a such a big agglomeration like LA? the car industry lobby in the U.S.

another cowboy wrote:

why the metro/subway remains so undeveloped in a such a big agglomeration like LA? the car industry lobby in the U.S.

So all we have to do is make the car industry bankrupt and then they wouldn't be able to lobby. Damn, we really shouldn't have bailed them out.

I will support a high-speed train when it is capable of carrying freight and travels through a vacuum (or near vacuum) in a tube. Getting freight from coast to coast in record time on my mag-lev freight train would pay for your passenger service.

Also, the "'Murica" thing has run its course. We get it. Millennials liked Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert who made fun of America and patriotism. It made millennials feel sophisticated to criticize the best political system that's likely ever existed. That was probably two years ago. Move on to Harambe or some other "humorous" meme of more recent vintage. Nothing longer than five seconds, though, or you'll lose the millennials.

another cowboy wrote:

the car industry lobby in the U.S.

another cowboy wrote:

why the metro/subway remains so undeveloped in a such a big agglomeration like LA? the car industry lobby in the U.S.

actually it is the oil industry

Will the high speed train stop in front of my house?

Let's see: TGV for example, consumes power than a small city, creates landscape blight, in some cases divides the land ("the other side of the railway tracks"), lives off of government subsidies (moreso than Deutsche Bahn, differs a lot by country), largely only has self-defined "important" cities on the line (politics of excluding others), ...

In other words, because USA hasn't turned that stupid (yet).

Costas fan wrote:

the best political system that's likely ever existed.

LOL

Sayer of LOL wrote:

Costas fan wrote:

the best political system that's likely ever existed.

LOL

Double LOL

Trains are only economical over shorter distances.

This. High speed rail might make sense between DC & NYC, but few other places in the US. It will be a disaster in CA.

Blah Blah. wrote:

Trains are only economical over shorter distances.

Seriously? Have you ever tried to embrace a high speed train??

a matter of convenience... wrote:

Will the high speed train stop in front of my house?

+1

We have a few relatively high speed trains. I took one from NYC to Boston. Anywhere outside of the densely populated Northeast, it doesn't make economical sense.

I always thought a high speed train running right down the middle of TN>AL>FL gulf coast would be a winner.

You could get on in Nash and be at the beach in a few hours with a stop in Bham or Mont. No driving, you could drink and party on the way, etc..

We're all just very used to having a car and the independence it affords. So driverless cars will satisfy both issues and render the need for a train mute.

Because a high-speed train would crush you! Even embracing a low-speed train could be deadly!

Gas is cheap; train tix are not. Plus, when you get to the other end, you STILL need a car.

Try shipping a family of 5 to DC or NYC (or, well, anywhere): makes MUCH more sense to drive.

Most of the US lacks the population density and the local public transportation systems at either end of a high speed train system for it to be efficient.

You could also add the problems caused by multiple layers of government in the US (federal, state, county, local, etc.) that make it very hard to develop or fund new infrastructure projects that require cooperation and financing from multiple different jurisdictions. It's much easier to get these sorts of things done in a country with a more centralized political system.

because highways and airplanes.