What is high speed rail?

High speed rail is a 21st century passenger train service that connects cities with trains that travel at speeds of at least 150 mph (200 km/h), although current projects worldwide use 220 mph (350 km/h) as a contemporary benchmark. The world record was set at 357 mph in France in August 2007!

Why do we need high speed rail?

Today's transportation needs require easy and efficient alternative solutions to relieve congestion on our clogged highways and at our busy airports.  High speed rail can run 100% on clean, renewable energy through overhead electrical wires.   

If powered by green energy, high speed rail:

Does not contribute to the harmful causes of global warming.

Drastically reduces our dependence on diminishing worldwide supplies of oil

Reduces transportation times and costs for all Americans.

Why high speed?

There are two strategies for implementing high speed rail: one is incremental and the other involves creating bold, new fast lines. We applaud the Department of Transportation's leadership on high speed rail in America. However, we think the current federal vision is too incremental and therefore will take too long to reach the truly state-of-the-art passenger service which has been accomplished in several other countries already. Instead, we support the second approach, for building the infrastructure for 220 mph trains on separate dedicated tracks.

California is leading the way in this initiative, and we call on the rest of the country to follow.

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