By Brady Winkler

Introduction

Imagine you are going on a trip to Niagara Falls in upstate New York. You would probably get there by car, which from Wayland, would be an exhausting and cramped seven hours. You could also fly, but that would include the time getting to Logan Airport, going through lines, and then getting transportation from the arrival airport to your destination. And of course, this assumes there are no delays.

But this kind of intercity travel, (journeys between two fairly close cities, usually a 3+ hour drive) is very different in other parts of the world. Just across the Atlantic in Europe, it’s the norm for travelers to simply take public transportation or walk to the city’s main railway station, and relax on a high speed train that will take them to their destination. 

I will talk more about the benefits of intercity trains over other transportation modes, and discuss the intercity trains that exist and are being built in the US. 

How could we benefit from fast, intercity rail?

You’ve very likely done at least one moderate distance road trip before, and it probably wasn’t the best experience of your life. You spend hours on end strapped into your seat with not much but desolate highway scenery flying by. It’s probably even worse for your caregivers, having to focus their uninterrupted attention on the road. 

However, these trips could be drastically different if our country had a high-quality rail network. In this network, most Americans would have a local public transportation stop that you could easily walk or bike to. You would then ride to an intercity rail station like Boston South Station, and catch your train to a different city from there. While onboard, you could get snacks in the Cafe Car, stretch your legs whenever you wanted, take the time to catch up on your science homework, or look out the window at the amazing views. Once you arrived at your destination, you would be dropped off right downtown with public transportation connections to other parts of the city.

This is not just a dream. This is a reality in one of my favorite countries in the world, The Netherlands. For example, a drive from Amsterdam to Berlin usually takes about 6-7 hours. (That is a true fact, I’m not just saying it for the memes!) However, the preferred method of transportation is the train, not only because it’s usually faster, but with how comfortable it is compared to driving and flying. 

Unlike in the United States, most Dutch towns are well connected to a high-speed rail station. They can bike to the station on paths fully separated from car traffic, ride local public transportation, or in some cases, walk. If you’d like to learn more about how much of an impact walkable and bikeable communities can have on society, and the problem with car-centered infrastructure, consider reading my article on “Stroads, Roads, Streets and Car Centric Infrastructure”. 

Since trains run very often, people don’t need to look at a schedule, and can show up at the station and go straight to the platform to board their train. As I mentioned before, they can move around the train at any point they want, enjoy snacks, and spend their time productively. 

My Trip on BrightLine

This is not to say we don’t have good quality rail in the United States. BrightLine is a new train that runs between Orlando and Miami, capable of reaching speeds of 125 miles per hour. Some regard it as America’s best train. During February vacation, I was fortunate enough to ride this train from Orlando to Aventura. I also rode it twice more on shorter trips between Aventura and Miami Central. 

The trip went very well, taking just under four hours. Despite being a nearly 228 mile long journey, the train was only delayed by a couple minutes. The cities we stopped in were Orlando, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Aventura and Miami.

Starting with the stations, they were absolutely beautiful. They were all very modern, spotless, and bright (which makes sense, considering this is BrightLine). Additionally, they were all well equipped with large seating, friendly staff, and some even had shopping and dining areas as well. Usually you do not need to go through security to board a train, but the process was quick and easy, unlike airport TSA. 

As for the trains themselves, they were just as nice as the stations. We blew by beautiful lakes, state parks, charming towns, and vibrant cities. It was very comfortable too, I’d even say that the seats were the most comfortable chairs I have ever sat in. They were extremely well cushioned, and felt like something I could stay in for days. Despite reaching very high speeds, the train was so smooth that it felt as if we weren’t even moving. 

The service was amazing too. At each seat, there was a QR code that allowed me to order food at any time. It was very fast, with the train attendants bringing my order to my seat within a few minutes of ordering. I will say that there were really only snacks on the menu, and not much that would truly fill you up as a meal.  However, the food they did have was very tasty, significantly better than airplane food. You can look at the menu yourself using this link. (may be blocked on school chromebooks.)  

Planned High-Speed Rail

My experience on BrightLine inspired me to research more about the possibilities of more high speed, intercity trains that could be constructed in the United States. In the process, I found that train companies look for certain characteristics of a rail corridor, which can be represented by the acronym “IDEAL”: 

Intermediate stations are far apart

Does not have any at-grade crossings

Electrical system is up to date

Almost all track can be straight and on flat ground

Large cities are at either end of the line

While I found several possibilities of lines, I discovered that there is already a project underway, which will connect Los Angeles and Las Vegas, two major cities plagued by traffic. It will be able to travel at speeds up to 200 miles per hour, which will make it the fastest train in the United States, and the western hemisphere. After leaving Las Vegas, it will get down to Los Angeles in just three hours, an hour and 13 minutes faster than driving (and without the stress). The project is expected to be completed in late 2028, but this is of course subject to delays. 

The only issue is that when the project first opens, services will end at Rancho Cucamonga station, as the tracks from there to downtown Los Angeles are not suitable for high speed rail. Passengers will need to transfer to a commuter train run by Metrolink at Rancho Cucamonga to get downtown. In the future though, Bright Line will probably extend their track to Los Angeles, allowing for a direct train between the two cities.

Amtrak, the United States’ national railroad, has stated that they could build a high speed line running from Dallas to Houston, but there are no official plans to do this in the near future. Like Bright Line West, the highway along this route has terrible car traffic, making this a great candidate for high speed rail. 

Transit advocates also say that Amtrak could upgrade their existing line, the Maple Leaf between New York City and Toronto, as it would be a fairly short distance to cover. Considering how New York City is the most populous city in the United States, and Toronto is the most populous city in Canada, the line probably would get a huge ridership, which could make the Maple Leaf very profitable. Again, this is simply speculation.

Conclusion

In summary, we could all benefit from a high quality intercity railroad. It would make travel far more efficient and comfortable, and could give us more freedom of mobility. This will take a lot of money and hard work though. Even with our existing passenger train network, there are many issues that need to be fixed. But with enough investment from our country’s leaders, we’ll be heading full speed ahead.

Proposed US high speed rail map