This week Japan set a new land speed record for a mag-lev train at 366 mph. Twice. The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe then said he would like to bring mag-lev technology to the U.S. and even offered Japan's financial assistance. But why haven't we embraced high speed rail and mag-lev technology here in the U.S.?
You can barely call the Acela Express that operates from Washington, D.C. to Boston high speed, because it doesn't even run on dedicated lines. There have been numerous proposals with the two most likely to actually come to fruition traversing from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
But why not New York to L.A.? Here are the reasons why it is time for the U.S. to get in the mag-lev game.
Re-urbanization
The whole media world talks about millennials because they are supposedly changing the game again and again. One of the trends that is indeed true is that they are moving back into the cities. The younger generations are sick of sitting in traffic, for the privilege living in the suburbs with their two and half kids and white picket fences.
They want to feel connected to things, be able to walk and bike to work, restaurants, and shopping. They are more than fine with having one car per family and many of them are willing to give up vehicles altogether if the infrastructure in their cities can support it.
Interstate travel by high speed train fits right into their lifestyle as they would rather socialize, play games, or watch movies than have to sit in traffic anywhere.
Interstate System 2.0
In June of 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower championed a full-fledged national highway and defense system after witnessing the strategic usefulness of the Autobahn during his time in Germany during WWII. It took until 1992 to fully complete the original highway system plan, and lord knows it is always and ever expanding, but at least it was completed.
Now is the time for the federal government to put down their bipartisan rhetoric and come together to establish a high speed network across the country. Leaving it up to private industry or state governments to handle interstate transit service is foolhardy at best. Building an interstate high-speed rail service would bolster the economy and could ease the grip the airline oligopoly has over travelers; a grip that seems to get tighter with each passing year.
Technology
The technology is continuing to be proven the world over. With trains reaching speeds up to 330 miles per hour, it isn't long before the rail service is as speedy as flying across the country. If you are starting from scratch and gathering right of way through eminent domain, why not double the size of the train in width and height, take the speed up to 500 miles per hour and be able to cart 3,000 or more people across the country at once?
If you are using existing rails, obviously you are talking about considerably less capacity but it's still a faster way to travel. Even the boring machines that are used in tunneling have made leaps and bounds in the last few decades. This would considerably cut down the time necessary to complete the route should it be decided to go the below ground route as opposed to the above ground.
If the federal government were to be smart about this, they would go for the above ground route, right down the middle of the interstate system, saving right of way accumulation and lessening environmental impact.
In Conclusion
It is easy to sit back and say, "Do this or do that," ignoring many of the variables and factors that are at play with government involvement, private industry competition, etc. But the last time a poll was done, 59 percent of the American public was in favor of high speed rail as an alternative to flying.
Other technologies like Evacuated Tube Transport Technologies or the Hyperloop are out there and may be viable options as well once proved. But high speed rail is already working in other countries in the world. The time is now for the U.S. to jump onboard.
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