General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: AMTRAK: Completely nationalize, rebuild and then give to the workers [View all]brooklynite
(94,502 posts)You're welcome to have an opinion on the labor structure of Amtrak (I would be inclined to disagree on a number of points, but that's another discussion), but to throw out "completely revamped with bullet trains" is focusing on a solution looking for a problem.
Setting aside the immense expense of building completely new rights of way to support high speed rail, and the difficulty of obtaining the property needed for it (BTW - are you aware that Amtrak only extends from Washington to Boston: the rest of its operation is under contract to private railroads?), and the increadibly long lead time (Amtrak thinks upgrading the NEC to 250 MPH service would take 30 years), the value of HSR is limited by distance and its success is limited by density. For any trip of more than 6 hours, even a high speed train won't compete with air travel. Add to that, HSR is successful when you eliminate intermediate stops to maintain speed; how many small towns would lose their service in support of high speed trains between major cities.
The target markets today are within 400 miles of each other (LA-San Francisco; Dallas-Houston). A nationwide network would be hugely expensive and of limited value.