10K miles of high speed rail in the U.S. would be great. We desperately need a realistic alternative to air travel. Unfortunately, Americans simply don't see

10K miles of high speed rail in the U.S. would be great. We desperately need a realistic alternative to air travel. Unfortunately, Americans simply don't see it as a priority, and we have huge legal and environmental obstacles to building almost anything these days. The new WTC only got built because there was a national consensus that it should be built. There's no national consensus that a high speed rail line should be built, so it probably won't happen in our lifetimes, other than a minimal, barely-fast-enough 20th Century design here and there such as between D.C. and NYC.