Whenever we criticize the media for not understanding how high speed rail works, we usually suggest they go to Asia or Europe, ride a bullet train, and see for themselves how well the trains work. Happily, some California journalists are doing exactly that, including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Michael Cabanatuan. He traveled to Japan to [...]

Most of us who support high speed rail do so out of pragmatism. We look at a situation where our state is choked by traffic, suffering from the economic effects of an overdependence on costly oil, and in need of more sustainable forms of mass transit that get us around this state quickly and affordably. [...]

Mark Reutter has a fantastic article up at Progressive Fix about the history of high speed rail – and how HSR was made in America. Before government subsidies shifted toward freeways and airplanes, the US was the global leader in high speed rail innovation. After the mid-1950s, the US gave up that lead, but its [...]

Feel free to use this as an open thread for anything HSR related. Some recent HSR news items: With a British general election looming and the Conservative Party riding high in the polls, it’s good to hear that the Tories will support the London-Scotland HSR project if and when they get elected. Amtrak will launch [...]