Why high-speed rail hasn't tracked in the U.S. | 60 Minutes
In a Nutshell
California's 2008 high-speed rail project from Los Angeles to San Francisco, initially promised for $33 billion by 2020, has ballooned to $126 billion with only a short Central Valley segment (Bakersfield-Merced) under construction for 2033 opening, plagued by right-of-way disputes, environmental lawsuits, high costs, and funding shortfalls. Private Brightline West aims to deliver the U.S.'s first true high-speed rail (200 mph) from LA to Las Vegas by 2029 using I-15 median tracks, backed by federal loans despite safety and financial concerns. America's struggles stem from political divisions, car culture, and lack of national will, contrasting successes in Morocco, China, Japan, and Europe.
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It's hard to exaggerate the role of the train in the American story or the romance of train travel, those iron horses galloping down tracks of steel. High-speed rail, so common in other countries, has not taken off in the US. An ambitious state-run project connecting LA and San Francisco has lurched, derailed, cost billions, and may never happen. One private company is betting that it can succeed where the public sector has not, but that too has had its bumps. As US high-speed rail remains a mirage, a ghost train, it's become a stand-in for a broader question: Can America get its act together and still build big things?
The very model of modern engineering hums across the fruited plains at a top speed of 200 mph. It's revolutionized travel and is a source of national pride in Morocco. In the US, high-speed rail looks hardly passenger ready.
America's hopes for its first high-speed rail were kindled in 2008 when California voters approved a ballot measure for a train connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than 3 hours. Estimated price tag: $33 billion. Completion date: 2020. It would cut pollution, revitalize local economies, clear gridlock. Status update: Today, the state's high-speed rail authority is preparing to lay its first tracks at roughly the same cost. Instead of LA to San Francisco, it will run 1/3 of that distance, connecting Bakersfield and Merced, population 96,000. Opening: 2033, maybe.
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