High Speed Trains

Judging by the reactions I've heard around town the last few days, people aren't very excited about the $8 Billion dollars that the government is investing in high speed railroad development. First let me say that I am 100% for it and I'm amazed that it's taken the U.S. this long to get around to it. Read a bit of what Time Magazine had to say about it;

"America's antiquated rail system will have to advance a long way just to make it to the present, let alone the future. U.S. intercity railroads are a laughingstock compared with those in most other developed nations — and, increasingly, even those in developing nations like China, which is investing more than $300 billion to build more than 16,000 miles of high-speed track by 2020.
Today you can travel the 250 miles from Paris to Lyon on the high-speed TGV in two hours. Covering a similar distance from Philadelphia to Boston takes some five hours, and that's on an Amtrak Acela train, the closest thing the U.S. has to high-speed rail. "Every other major industrialized nation has recognized that high-speed rail is key to economic growth and mobility," says Petra Todorovich, director of the America 2050 program at the Regional Planning Association. "It's time for America to realize that as well."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1957575,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0eB2mqhdE

It's just the beginning for sure, and of course it will cost more and more money. But imagine a world where you can take the south shore to chicago and be there in an hour instead of three. For those of us who hate flying, this is a breath of fresh air.