Originally Posted by shakran

The trouble is that Amtrak doesn't own most of the track it uses. The freight guys own it. And since freight doesn't need to go 200mph like highspeed passenger rail would, the tracks aren't built well enough to handle trains moving at that speed. Plus most of the road/rail crossings are grade level in the US. A 200 mph train crossing on a road rather than above or below the road is a certain recipe for major disaster.

So until Amtrak builds its own rails, they're screwed, and they'll never build the rails because they barely have enough cash to run their trains, much less add infrastructure. Now, considering airline tickets are about to skyrocket (airlines declaring bankruptcy, going out of business, and fuel costs too high) train tickets might become attractive - but not when it takes 2 days to go from minneapolis to missoula - a trip that's a few hours by air.

The trouble is that unlike european governments, our government hasn't stepped up to the plate and said, yeah, it's expensive, but it's vital transportation infrastructure and we need to fund it.