Highlights of the GAO HSR 2009 Report

This highlights some important points in the report entitled "High Speed Passenger Rail: Future Development Will Depend on Addressing Financial and Other Challenges and Establishing a Clear Federal Role." U.S. Government Accountability Office. GAO-09-317. March 2009.http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09317.pdf. Important points in this GAO Report are the following: speed of high speed rail trains, the intermodal aspect of traveling, the federal role in setting a national vision and the coordination of agencies. 

Note also the funding mechanisms of high speed rail in other countries as mentioned on the very first page (the page after the title sheet and before page i), federal funding [from other countries] for high speed rail has been derived from general revenues, not from trust funds or other dedicated funding sources. Also noteworthy is Appendix V which has a description of High speed rail systems in France, Japan, and Spain. 

For sure, those countries business models/organizational structure for High Speed Rail must be studied intensively as they offer the blue print for what high speed rail would look like in the United States. If you want to get involved in working on or advocating for high speed rail in the United States, please study GAO-09-317. If you have questions about the information in the document, feel free to email emylouie@hotmail.com.