I've been all over the United States via our passenger rail system, and while Amtrak is not great compared to the rest of the world, they do what they can with what they have. There are several things holding Amtrak back, and thus national passenger rail in the United States (whether its future form be Amtrak or not): Amtrak owns a very limited amount of track, most of it restricted to the Northeast Corridor, and so has to rely on freight rail companies who do own the rail to lease them right-of-way (this also means freight on said lines has priority); there are a lot of laws in place that regulate how trains must be constructed in order to be safe in the United States, in addition to laws that regulate crossings, speed, and how they are gated off; and Amtrak has aging rolling stock--when fuel prices went through the roof, they were pulling mothballed cars back into the fleet because the current rolling stock couldn't meet demand. There are myriad other issues, but these are three of the big ones that will shape how we proceed with high speed rail in the United States. Also, we must keep in mind the sheer size of the United States; this is why I think the Obama administration's choice to pursue a corridor-based model is a good one. We ought to focus on getting these particular corridors up-to-date with high speed rail, and worry about connecting the corridors later.
I think it's a state and a federal issue. Washington State and Oregon have a model program with their sponsorship of the
Amtrak Cascades route. Washington State has ponied up some major bucks for track improvements (including improved crossings in many areas) and for the Talgo trainsets, and their goal is to ultimately run the train from Seattle to Portland in 2.5 hours. Some of this track, post-improvements, will be owned by WSDOT.
While this is a good solution for now, we have to realize that if we truly want high speed rail in this country, we are going to have to invest in infrastructure beyond the current freight rail system, for both safety and speed. We cannot keep leasing track from the freight operators forever and keep a timetable. But I think we're taking steps in the right direction--we also cannot expect this to all happen overnight. But I think if President Obama is serious about finding a "shovel-ready" stimulus project, rail in the United States is a good one--I would rather take the train than drive my car any day of the week, and I truly enjoy laughing at the sorry saps on the I-5 as I whiz by them drinking a gin and tonic in the Cascades' bar car.