High-Speed Rail In The US?
The United States has failed to develop a high-speed rail infrastructure comparable to other countries. China has leapt past the US to a dizzying degree. Why can't the United States boast an impressive network of high-speed trains?
The United States' geographic size makes it extremely costly to connect major cities in the east to cities in the west with railroads. Furthermore, it would require significant money to bypass the various mountain ranges and rivers that congest the trans-American landscape.
The Boring Company, Elon Musk's high-speed tunnel project, requires large amounts of capital expenditures to meet America's demand for a cheap omni-channel traveling experience. Countries with large amounts of flatland and complete political control can build rail systems more efficiently than democratic countries with inconsistent terrain. However, American capitalism makes it challenging for a private company to establish a high-speed rail infrastructure because of competition and low levels of government funding.
Additionally, the United States already has an established system of highways. Due to massive lobbying efforts in the mid 20th century, America made cars the primary mode of transportation. Coupled with then President Eisenhower's affection for the German highway system he witnessed firsthand during World War 2. America built massive interstate highways in the 1950s under The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, instead of trans-national train systems.
America's highway infrastructure makes it difficult for lobbyists to justify spending billions of dollars to create a new transportation system. The United States is already over budget, and as a result, critics believe the government should focus more on maintaining our current infrastructure rather than building new costly ventures such as high-speed trains.
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Written by Ramsay Bader, Edited by James Mueller & Alexander Fleiss