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U.S. Used to the the High Speed Rail Leader
The Infrastructurist today points out a nice historical post on Progressive Fix, which tells us there was a time when we led the world in high speed rail. But that was before we went interstate highway-crazy: "In the period between 1935 and 1950, the 10 fastest scheduled passenger trains in the world were all U.S. streamliners… To operate the Shinkansen, or 'New Trunk Line,' between Tokyo and Osaka, Sogo actively imported technology from America... Remarkably, the U.S. government gave Japan foreign aid - money purportedly going to an underdeveloped country - to build a rail infrastructure far superior to our own." Maybe Japan, with its super fast bullet trains, can lend us a helping hand in return?
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