[bobthepanda]

Acela already exists. It's not very high speed at all, it's consistently higher priced than other competing options like planes or buses, yet it manages to fill seats to the brim. Even at its slower speed, it manages to be preferable to slogging it to an airport, dealing with the security theater, either the mad rush to the plane or the endless waiting, and then doing the whole process in reverse once you land at your destination.

In fact, high speed rail could also be transformative for international travel; airlines could bundle a high speed rail ticket with a much cheaper transatlantic flight from Philly, as opposed to paying out the nose for a flight out of EWR or JFK.

[rayiner]

Acela is a great example of why high speed rail in the U.S. is a stupid idea. It's primarily used by business travelers between Boston and DC (and points in-between). Even if Amtrak didn't have to support money-losing long distance routes, Amtrak could not operate Acela without Congress footing the bill for capital expenditures. (Acela runs an operating profit, but that's ignoring the fact that Congress pays for the tracks and trains.) Why the heck should the other 80% of the country pay tax money for a service that's only useful to well-off travelers in the northeast?