Why high-speed rail has yet to reach the U.S.—and is change coming?

On 10 May 1869, history was hammered into the ground in Promontory, Utah. Shortly after noon on a sunny spring day, hundreds of onlookers gathered in a tent city, hastily constructed in the scrub-specked middle of nowhere, to witness the driving of the golden spike, the final link of the first transcontinental railroad. Spanning the US, this railway was a feat of engineering as well as social unity, linking up the nation just a few years after the American Civil War, the country’s bloodiest-ever conflict.

Train travel has taken off all around the world since then, and high-speed rail projects have been particularly popular in the 21st century. In Europe ­— already densely woven with rail routes — all major cities are set to be linked by high-speed connections in the next 20 years. China’s

high-speed network could wrap around the Equator and keep going for thousands of miles more. Japan’s first high-speed service, opened in 1964, is nearly old enough to start collecting a pension. Even in what are perhaps unexpected places, like Uzbekistan and Morocco, new high-speed lines are whisking travellers between bucket-list destinations. But in the US, the world’s biggest economy and fourth-largest country by area, the high-speed rail revolution has yet to arrive, leaving international visitors and Americans alike scratching their heads.

How did the country that built a continent-crossing railroad nearly 160 years ago end up lagging behind when it comes to trains? Political deals at hyper-local levels, years of drawn-out consultations and the ever-shifting priorities of federal administrations often cause budget estimates to rise, and derail the best-laid plans. Layer on the grip of the car on US culture and century-old rail infrastructure, and you have a boondoggle that’s almost too tangled to unravel.

It’s not all bad news, though. In some parts of the US, new rail projects — some high-speed, some not — are charging full steam ahead. And travellers are booking seats in record numbers: Amtrak posted the highest ever ridership report in 2025, around 34.5 million passengers. This suggests train travel in the US could catch up with the frontrunners — if only the country could agree on where it wants to go, as it did in 1869.

The tracks issue

There’s no internationally set definition as to what qualifies as high-speed rail, but most industry experts agree it’s 186mph. In August 2025, Amtrak — the only national passenger rail service in the US — debuted NextGen Acela, a service it marketed as high-speed. It covers the 450 miles between Boston and Washington, DC, a leg known as the Northeast Corridor. Able to reach 160mph, it’s indeed the fastest service anywhere in North America, although it can hit that number for only short stretches.

The Northeast Corridor — where other commuter and national train services operate — is the busiest rail line in the US. But it runs using systems that date from the 1930s, when the route was first electrified. It’s representative of infrastructure used for passenger rail services across the country, the majority of which dates to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

To operate at high speed, trains generally require more modern, specialised tracks. In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act authorised $66bn (£49bn) to be spent on passenger rail, the largest single investment in the US train network since Amtrak was created in 1971. At the time of writing, its future is uncertain after President Trump announced he would review it.

But if you build it, passengers will come. In 2024, Amtrak added the Borealis service between Chicago and Saint Paul, Minnesota, supplementing the once-daily Empire Builder trains. The route saw a 227% increase in riders compared to the year before. In August 2025, its Mardi Gras Service between New Orleans and Mobile was revived after a two-decade hiatus. The sweltering summer months are generally a slower time for travel in the South, but ridership is already more than double Amtrak’s original estimate.

The right of way question

Another increasingly popular train service is Brightline, the only privately owned and operated intercity line in the US. From 2018, it opened in stages between Miami and Orlando, two of the top five most-visited US cities for international travellers. But its success is hard to replicate.

One of the most expensive and time-consuming parts of starting a railroad in the US is gaining the right of way to the section of land the track runs on. Brightline had a head start: its investment group bought a freight railroad that already had it. “We thought, maybe we can use that as a jumping-off point to create a rail system,” says CEO Mike Reininger. “It was a set of opportunities, and it helped us overcome the fundamental challenges that beset rail aspirations from the beginning.”

Brightline has set its sights on a West Coast project: a true high-speed rail line — running at 200mph — between Southern California and Las Vegas, aiming for partial opening in 2028 and a full launch in 2029. While it doesn’t have the same advantage it did in Florida, it’s planning to lease the right of way long-term.

To go ahead, Brightline is seeking additional funding, including federal government loans. The Trump administration has supported its ambitions so far. At the same time, federal funding has been cancelled for proposed high-speed links between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Dallas and Houston.

The money matter

The cost of US rail projects, high speed or otherwise, often runs into the billions, sometimes even before a single shovel hits the ground — more than in many other countries. “We take too long,” says Jim Mathews, president and CEO of the Rail Passengers Association, an advocacy group for US train travellers. “We spend decades planning and studying. Inflation has a way of making your stuff cost more.”

Yet, the US doesn’t seem to bat an eyelid when it comes to spending billions on roads. The same bill that gave the rail network the record-breaking $66bn has given states $70bn (£53bn) to spend annually on car infrastructure over five years, equating to $350bn (£270bn).

The country’s motorways are actually a good place to look for inspiration: high-speed rail has the potential to be the revolution that the Interstate Highway System was. “In the 40 years from the 1960s to the 2000s, we spent trillions on highways; in those same years, we spent less than $10bn [£7.5bn] on high-speed rail,” says Andy Kunz, president and CEO of the US High Speed Rail Association. “We need to start investing in high-speed rail big time, like we did on the highways in the 1950s. The government made it a priority, companies got behind it, and we did it as a nation.”