I have been on fast trains in Europe and in Taiwan. My main problem is that they go too fast and you don't get to see any of the countryside. A lake will fly pa

I have been on fast trains in Europe and in Taiwan. My main problem is that they go too fast and you don't get to see any of the countryside. A lake will fly past you in about 1/8 of a second. It's a soulless way to move from one point to another. So that's my experience of traveling in Italy and Taiwan: I only saw cities, though I did travel extensively through those countries by train. Going by car, which I did recently in Benelux, is so much more pleasant. You stop by local restaurants when you're hungry, you check out culture outside the city center, you see how regular people live. You get to smell the environment. You really experience the country you're in. As far as HSR in America, thank goodness there's no need to argue about it anymore, as even the people who have embraced it wholeheartedly have decided to abandon the idea. We probably won't see HSR ever in the United States, as self driving cars will make it a silly idea in the next couple of decades.