Paris to Brussels is 165 miles. 1.5 hours @ 110 mph Chicago to St. Louis is 298 miles. 1.5 hours @ 198 mph Chicago to Houston is 938 miles. 1.5 hours @ 625 mph

Paris to Brussels is 165 miles. 1.5 hours @ 110 mph Chicago to St. Louis is 298 miles. 1.5 hours @ 198 mph Chicago to Houston is 938 miles. 1.5 hours @ 625 mph The upper limit for maglev trains in 2009 is ~312 mph. The reason high-speed is not in place in the USA has more to do with the problem we were trying to solve using air travel than it had to do with whether high-speed rail would work. Here in Chicago, we have one of the nation's finest commuter rail systems (METRA). It works great, runs on time, defeats bad weather, etc. -- for distances <= 50 miles. Beyond that, the cost-benefit analysis get hazy.