Why US Can't Build a High Speed Rail

The United States has been struggling to build a high-speed rail for decades. But why would the world's leading superpower be unable to pull off something other countries currently have? Some people say it's because the country is too big, others blame politics, but the real reason may surprise you. Check out today's epic new video to find out why America can't seem to get its act together when it comes to building a high-speed rail.

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[JNouveau]

I love how it's harder to negotiate between politicians from the same country, that negotiating between countries with different demographics, culture and language

[Phelper]

Zoning laws are a big problem in the US too. In the vast majority of the country, you can't reasonably walk to get necessities.

[transitcaptain]

Most countries, like Japan struggled with their high-speed rail at first. But people don’t know that because they decided to focus on enjoying it rather than learning lessons. We could’ve had it if we wanted, But everyone wanted to do cars.

[ViraL_FootprinT.ex.e]

Taking Amtrak from Fayetteville, NC to Tucson, AZ was one of the highlights of my childhood.

Watching the land change from swamp to desert through that southern rail corridor from Jacksonville, FL to Tuscon was just fascinating to my little dorky nerd brain at the time.

[andyasumtneer]

One of the things that people never think about is that after World War II, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions were completely destroyed. That made it easier to rebuild infrastructure, including light rail. In the US, most of the railroad system had been set up decades ago, and replacing infrastructure is sometimes more expensive than building on new location.

[chasefrost]

They tried to build a highspeed elevated rail line in my city on the tracks that are right behind my house, it was undoable because there was A LOT of people who would've had to have been displaced, and a majority of them didn't want to, or couldn't possibly afford to move even with the meager amount they tried to get everyone to take.

[mrchefcheck]

I would totally ride high speed rails if it was widespread in the US.

[Carbon_rod]

I’m just waiting to see how our protagonist survived the next 100 days of nuclear war.

[Samsanity]

I would 100% ride high speed rail if it existed near me. I tried the system in Japan, and it's just so convenient. Is there nothing we as laymen can do to help speed up this process?

[blademaster]

Fun fact: the US _does_ have a high-speed rail line, and has since the 1990s. The line is called the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and connects Washington D.C., Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Its one of the busiest sections of raillines in the country, with over 2000 trains operating on it daily, including Amtrak’s Acela Express, a US-made bullet train that operates roughly the full length of the NEC, and is capable of reaching 150 mph (roughly 241 km/h).

The only thing preventing the Acela from operating at this speed on the entire route is the amount of rail traffic on the NEC, and its not just freight trains causing that. Heck, almost 90% of the NEC is outright _owned_ by Amtrak, and the sections of rail where the Acela can reach its top speeds *aren’t owned by Amtrak.* In fact, between Washington D.C. and New York, there’s very little open space; its all either city or suburb. This results in a massive amount of commuter trains operating on the NEC in that area; at least 70% of rail traffic on the NEC between Washington D.C. and New York is local commuter trains.

To put it simply, the US _does_ have a high-speed rail line, but its in probably one of the _worst_ places in the country for a high-speed rail line to be.

[JD-bkzi]

The government: Why don't they trust us ?

Also the government: *I choose truth over facts*

[okboomer]

Comparing US to Singapore. Singapore has 214 square miles, that is less than the county I live in.

[poodlescone]

Read the stories of the process of how Japan and Hong Kong obtained the land for their trains. The government forcibly seized people's lands. The fight got very nasty and it would be unacceptable today.

[johnrickard]

Our federal government very much deserves its untrustworthy reputation so I'm guessing that is never going to happen unless state governments start cooperating on this. That being the case, if there is enough will in the public sphere this will likely end up happening as it nearly did for the Interstate system

[edmundgeswein]

A good place to start would be between cities where vast numbers of people commute for work causing gridlock on the freeways. This is a major problem in California because where the rents are relatively low, there aren't enough jobs; and where the jobs are more plentiful the rents are outrageously high. People can't seem to get work in their own communities anymore and all the jobs are in the urban centers. Commutes can turn an 8 hour work day into a virtual 10 to 12 hour work day counting a long commute. There needs to be a better way!

[rayoflight]

It has become a fixed appointment, like on the old broadcast TV in my green years: every evening, an interesting episode from Infographic is ready to be watched.
I don't know how many of you are there, working night and day to produce more episodes on the war, in the society, on the science - all of great actuality.
And without compromising the quality of the episodes and all the research work required.
A truly felt thank you to all of you, your work is greatly appreciated.
To the tireless speaker of the great voice behind every episode, what about a face reveal? Or, better, an high-likeliness animation of your self?
Again, thank you to you all
Anthony, from the UK...

[UFCfan.]

Why are your videos so interesting when I should be sleeping 🥲

[beichenyang]

The railway system in US is not a big mess. Passenger train in US maybe a joke. But in terms of freight rail, US is the top. The thing is that you can't have the most efficient freight rail and passenger rail at them same time. Japan and Europe choose to optimize their passenger rail system, while US choose the freight rail.

[nicholasleow]

If you're asking about how the Singapore government mitigates the noise problem regarding underground railways, they always dig tunnels at depths where people can't hear the drilling noise underneath, thus their daily lives won't be disrupted which is one is one of the complaints for railway. Therefore, more people would take the train to wherever they want to go, and less people would see the need for cars due its pricing including taxes

[SamMcKinley]

Amen!!! I’m a nervous flyer but gave up on trains and I work on one. The trip from NC to GA takes longer than NYC to Dubai. Then unless it’s Chicago or North East, you are stranded without a car. The train also does not run as frequent.