Wake Up America

In 1956 President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the construction of the Interstate Highway System which for all intents and purposes caused railroad service, both passenger and freight, to decline dramatically.  Today, if you want to ship something from coast-to-coast you use tractor-trailer which uses the interstate system or you send it by air.  If you want to travel coast-to-coast you either fly or drive on the interstate system.  You certainly do not take the train.  I looked it up.  If you took a passenger train from New York City to Los Angeles the trip would take you over 67 hours.

How would you like to go from New York City to Los Angeles in 10 hours on a train.  Central Japan Railway Company has begun testing their latest "bullet" train which will attain speeds in excess of 300mpr.  They have been operating high speed trains since 1964 and are in direct competition with China in high speed rail service.  China currently has passenger trains that run at 270mph and use magnetic levitation technology instead of wheels on tracks.  Japan's 300mpr bullet trains will also run on the latest magnetic levitation technology.    The fastest passenger train currently running in the U.S. is Amtrak's Acela with a top speed of 150mph, though the average is half that speed.  Passenger trains in the U.S. are still running on wheels, the same technology used in the 1800's.

Wake up America.  We're getting left behind.