Widespread rail in the US --- AIN'T HAPPENING. I repeat .. AIN'T HAPPENING.

Yes, I know that isn't proper grammar.

Here's why.

#1. Rail in other countries, especially Europe, is heavily subsidized much much more than Joe Biden's Amtrak.

#2. Literally 90% of the rail that was laid in the US has been removed and the easements, land, bridges, etc. have been removed and/or sold. That means, to buy up the land and obtain property rights at this day in age would be catastrophicly high. Not to mention, the NIMBY's. Ain't happening.

#3. But what about the rail that is already in place? There is a big time engineering problem here. The freight companies own just about all American rail. Because our freight trains are incredibly heavy, the track can only be burmed (angled) very slightly in a curve or spiral. Otherwise, if you go over the critical angle, the bottom rail topples. So, when you try to put a light passenger train on the same track, the burm is too small and as such, the speed is drastically reduced. Accela was an attempt to overcome this by actually angling the rail cars on the freight track. Even more expensive.

#4. Even if the land, type of rail, and infrastructure wasn't a problem, rail NEVER will turn a profit. There's simply too much wear and tear.

#5. Our cities, communities, were never developed with rail in mind. They were built around the car. With that being said, our cities are spread out. The only areas where you're going to see rail, and exists today, are going to be the highly densely populated areas like the northeast.