In 2009, US president Barak Obama committed to building a high-speed rail network across the US. The plan has still not been implemented. Why has the US, with the world's longest railway network, failed to build itself a high-speed rail network?

Americans are not in the habit of using high-speed train as a preferred option for travel. With the development of the highway network and aviation passenger traffic since the mid-20th century, Americans are more accustomed to taking a Greyhound bus or a plane than a train. It is not easy for Obama's government to change long-standing American attitudes to travel.

Research shows that high-speed rail is suited to linking densely-populated city belts. If two cities are more than 1000 kilometers apart, high-speed rail fares are no cheaper than plane tickets. The US has a large land area but a small population and its major cities are spread far apart. As a result, the benefits of high-speed rail in the US are limited. Obama's plan to build 13 high-speed rail links seems unrealistic. America's high-speed rail technology is not sophisticated as a result of long-term underinvestment; it lags behind that of Europe, Japan and China. According to US law, 80% of high-speed trains has to be sourced from the US.

All of these factors have combined to thwart the launch of Obama’s high-speed rail project.

The article is edited and translated from《美國何以總也修不成高鐵？》, source: www.haiwainet.cn, author: Tao Duanfang