The high-speed rail sector is undergoing rapid growth. Congested interstates, increasing accident rates, the ever widening of highways, over-crowded airports, and concerns over carbon emissions are causing many countries to invest in rail infrastructure.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed by President Biden on November 15, 2021. The law authorizes $1.2 trillion for transportation and infrastructure improvements to U.S. ports, airports, rail, and roads.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also passed in 2021, provides a significant investment to rail system infrastructure, designating $66 billion to improve the country’s rail system. That brings new U.S. investment in high-speed rail to $1.64 trillion.
President and CEO at Siemens Mobility North America, Marc Buncher told CNBC, “I think passenger rail in the United States has been a little bit slow in years past because of funding. If you look at the federal funding that other nations get, it’s tremendous. Federal funding is the one piece that we need. And now that we have it, I think you’re going to see a tremendous amount of growth in the industry.”
What Countries Have the Largest High-Speed Rail Networks?
As of 2024, China has over 45,000 kilometers of high-speed railways, including the longest line the world from Beijing to Guangzhou at 2,298 kilometers, running at speeds up to 217 mph.
Spain started service in 1992. The nation runs the longest high-speed railway network in Europe and the second largest in the world with almost 4,000 kilometers of track, running at speeds of up to 192 mph.
Operating since 1964, Japan’s high-speed trains are called shinkansen, managed by Japan Railways, with 4,251 kilometers of high-speed rail network.
The first French high-speed railway opened in 1981, the LGV Sud-Est, connecting the suburbs of Paris and Lyon. France now operates 2,735 kilometers of high-speed rail network.
Germany began service in 1991 and runs 1,658 kilometers of high-speed rail network with a top speed of 186 mph.
Does the United States Have High-Speed Rail?
According to the Nov 6, 2021 White House Fact Sheet: “America’s public transit infrastructure is inadequate – with a multibillion-dollar repair backlog, representing more than 24,000 buses, 5,000 rail cars, 200 stations, and thousands of miles of track, signals, and power systems in need of replacement.”
High-speed rail exists in the United States, but it is severely limited and regional. The fastest rail system is the Amtrak Acela Express along the Northeast Corridor, with speeds of up to 150 miles per hour, with averages around 66 mph.
During an April 2024 speech, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “By 1860, more than half of the world's train tracks were in the U.S. And yet, as long as I've been alive our country has struggled to maintain our existing railways, let alone build for the future.”
On May 14, 2024, Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose joined U.S. High Speed Rail Association's annual conference to discuss Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments that are helping to deliver high-speed rail in the U.S. He said, “Americans shouldn't have to look abroad to experience high-speed rail.”
High-Speed Rail Progress is Being Made in America
As part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress approved $66 billion of funds for rail, with Amtrak receiving $22 billion.
Two years after the law went into effect, the Brightline West High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail System Project, a $12 billion project connecting Las Vegas, Nevada, and Rancho Cucamonga, California, has broken ground. This single project represents the most significant investment in high-speed rail since the creation of Amtrak. The new Brightline trains, with a fully electric, zero-emission system powered by solar and wind generation, are expected to run at speeds of 186 miles per hour, making the 218-mile trip in about two hours, twice as fast as the normal drive time.
Brightline West will establish the foundation for the creation of a new high-speed rail industry and supply chain. The project was awarded $3 billion in FRA Fed State-National funding from The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. The rest of the project will be privately funded and has received a total allocation of $3.5 billion in private activity bonds from USDOT.
An April 22, 2024 press release from the U.S Department of Transportation stated, “Support for high-quality passenger rail is part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda, which is delivering world class-infrastructure across the country, expanding access to economic opportunity, and creating good-paying, union jobs.”
The Brightline West is expected to serve more than 11 million passengers annually, take millions of cars off the road, and remove an estimated 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year. The project will create 35,000 jobs, including 10,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs for operations and maintenance.
Secretary Buttigieg joined elected leaders, union laborers, and Brightline Founder Wes Edens during the high-speed rail project groundbreaking in Las Vegas during an Earth Day event on April 22.
Buttigieg said, “By partnering with Brightline West, we’re writing a new chapter in our country’s transportation story that includes thousands of union jobs, new connections to better economic opportunity, less congestion on the roads, and less pollution in the air.”
Edens stated, “It is my great honor to help break ground on what will be the first high-speed rail in American history! Take a lot of pictures. It’ll be unrecognizable when you show back up a few years from now.”
On a April 23, 2024 interview, Brightline CEO Mike Reininger told Construction Dive that the goal is to open the high-speed rail line to passengers by 2028, when Los Angeles is set to host the Summer Olympics. Construction is planned to start simultaneously on multiple segments of the line by the end of 2024.
Brightline Will Serve as a Blueprint
Garth Fernandez, Central Valley regional director for the California High-Speed Rail Authority explains that the project has several challenges. “Working on the high-speed rail project has presented unique and complex challenges due to the immense scale, substantial budget, and high level of complexity on account of the interaction between the various functional elements. Collaboration between several large teams, substantial labor and material needs, robust risk planning and management, and agility are key elements to the success of the program. The margin of error is small, and the cost or schedule impact associated with an error or mistake could be severe, necessitating a heightened focus on execution and the ability to navigate through unforeseen obstacles.
Secretary Buttigieg said he’s optimistic that Brightline’s development-oriented model will
serve as a national blueprint for how to build profitable, low-carbon transit in other parts of the U.S. The project is an opportunity to prove his long-standing hunch: that Americans will flock to high-speed rail once someone builds a working model.
“This is a historic project and a proud moment where we break ground on America’s first high-speed rail system and lay the foundation for a new industry,” said Brightline founder Wes Edens during the groundbreaking event. “Today is long overdue, but the blueprint we’ve created with Brightline will allow us to repeat this model in other city pairs around the country.”
Other High-Speed Trains in the United States
Brightline Between Miami and Orlando
A high-speed train from Brightline started running in 2018, connecting Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach. A new train line to the Orlando International Airport began in September of 2023, making the 235-mile trek in three hours. The train travels with an average speed of 80 mph between Brightline’s five south Florida stations, with a maximum speed of 130 mph for sections of the journey between West Palm Beach and Orlando. In June 2023, Brightline received a $15.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to continue the line from Orlando to the Tampa International Airport.
Reininger said the Florida line started turning a profit in March, when it carried 250,000 passengers. Brightline estimates it will continue to gain riders over the next few years as people become familiar with the project.
Brightline Florida hosted Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo and representatives from the Nevada Department of Transportation on a ride from Orlando to West Miami.
“I enjoyed seeing the operations of Brightline firsthand this week," said Governor Joe Lombardo. "The positive economic impact of Brightline is evident, and I look forward to the benefits this innovative transportation method will bring to Nevada in the near future."
Texas Central High-Speed Railway
Construction of the high-speed rail between Houston and Dallas is gaining momentum after years of setbacks, including finances, leadership changes, and legal issues. The train is expected to travel at more than 200 mph and complete the 236-mile trip in 90 minutes. In December 2023, Amtrak received a $500,000 planning grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to explore the development of the high-speed Dallas to Houston rail line. The grant was part of the FRA Corridor Identification and Development Program.
Amtrack has secured federal approval for the route and the high-speed technology that will be used, and the Texas Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that Texas Central had the legal authority to acquire land through eminent domain.
Andy Byford, the head of high-speed rail development for the Texas Central Amtrak project, told POLITICO’s E&E News, “if you go down to Miami, it’s quite remarkable what Brightline has done,” he said.
“The Ironworkers strongly support the Dallas-to-Houston high-speed rail project,” said Jerry Wilson, Iron Workers District Council of Texas and the Mid South States in an August 9, 2023 article. “Not only is it safe and green, but it will provide hundreds of highly skilled, good paying jobs for our members as we transport, erect and install the infrastructure.”
The Acela Express from Boston to Washington DC
Amtrak is the rail company that operates the Northeast corridor. Acela, a contraction of the words Excellence and Acceleration, is the name used by Amtrak for its 735 kilometers line from Boston to Washington DC, via New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. The Acela Express reaches a top speed of 150mph on limited portions of its route, but its average speed is only about 66 mph.
High-Speed Rail System Infrastructure
Building and maintaining a high-speed rail system requires comprehensive infrastructure to support its operations, safety, efficiency, and accessibility. The infrastructure needs of a high-speed rail system include the construction of thousands of miles of new high-grade track, power supply, rail stations, safety systems, maintenance facilities, land acquisition, utility relocation, the construction of tunnels and bridges, and sophisticated communication and control systems.
Rail Tracks: High-speed rail requires an integrated system of specialized rolling stock and dedicated tracks that are designed to support trains traveling at high speeds. These tracks are built of high-strength, wear-resistant steel and are welded together to form a continuous rail. They feature smooth curves and gentle gradients to minimize friction and maximize efficiency. The heavy civil infrastructure of this project relies on engineers and contractors to manage the procurement, materials, and construction of rail tracks.
Power Supply: Trains are powered through overhead electric lines or renewable energy infrastructure. The installation of solar panels and wind turbines along the rail corridor and at stations will generate electricity. These clean energy sources can directly power the trains, be fed into the grid, or stored for periods of high demand or low renewable energy generation. The infrastructure for supplying power to the trains needs to be in place along the entire length of the track. So, some challenges lie with energy management and exchanging power with a high voltage grid.
Stations: Rail stations will serve as hubs for passengers to board and disembark trains. These stations need to be strategically located in urban areas and well-connected to other modes of transportation, such as buses, taxis, and metros.
Safety Systems: High-speed rail requires complex safety systems to ensure the well-being of passengers and staff. Differences between high-speed train and traditional train protocols include structures and standards for tracks and guideways, grade-crossing protection, electrification, rolling stock, crashworthiness of the vehicle, and improved emergency procedures.
Maintenance Facilities: Trains require regular maintenance to ensure safe and efficient operation. Trains must be inspected, cleaned, serviced, and repaired, requiring maintenance facilities equipped with specialized equipment and personnel.
Acquiring Land: Acquiring the necessary land for constructing high-speed rail tracks is a critical aspect of infrastructure development. This may involve negotiating with landowners, governments, and other stakeholders. Land acquisition for the Texas Central high-speed railway has been challenging. Many landowners are fighting the purchase of land needed to lay the tracks, saying the project will benefit urban areas, while ruining their rural way of life.
Relocating Utilities: Utilities ranging from telecommunications, electric, gas, water, and sewer may need to be relocated prior to beginning the installation of necessary infrastructure elements. The high-speed rail projects need to establish policies, procedures, and practices for mitigation of existing utilities within the acquired land and also for bringing new utility services for high-speed train operation. In a June 3, 2024 press release, Brightline West announced updates to field investigation work in Southern California and Nevada within the proposed rail corridor within Interstate 15 right-of-way. The field investigation work included geotechnical borings and samplings, utility potholing, and land surveying.
Tunnels and Bridges: High-speed rail tracks may need tunnels or bridges to cross difficult terrain, such as mountains or bodies of water. The California high-speed rail is one of the largest public works projects since the interstate highway system was built under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1955, which created more than 47,000 miles of highway and took 35 years to complete. For any high-speed rail project, building infrastructure elements such as tunnels and bridges to accommodate the rail line may be necessary.
Communication and Control Systems: High-speed rail operations will require sophisticated communication and control systems to manage train movements, monitor track conditions, and coordinate maintenance activities. Positive Train Control (PTC) is state-of-the art collision avoidance technology that allows trains, tracks, and dispatch centers to actively communicate speed restrictions, work zones, and safety concerns using a fiber optic network. For example, the PTC system would alert an engineer approaching a crossing if the crossing arms were malfunctioning, or display a safe-braking distance based on speed, train length, weight, and track curvature. The California high-speed rail will implement Automatic Train Control (ATC), a service-proven technology used on rail in Europe and Asia that ties in additional safety measures, such as intrusion detection and earthquake detection.
While High-Speed Accelerates, Existing Railways Get A Boost
The Biden-Harris Administration announced $8.2 billion in new funding for 10 major passenger rail projects on 69 rail corridors across 44 states. These investments plan to repair aging rail infrastructure to increase train speeds, reduce delays, benefit freight rail supply chains, reduce greenhouse emissions, and create good-paying union jobs. Projects include:
- Upgrade existing conventional rail corridors to connect Northern Virginia and the Southeast with the Northeast Corridor
- Expand and add frequencies to the Pennsylvania Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
- Extend the Piedmont Corridor in North Carolina north, as part of a higher-speed connection between Raleigh and Richmond, Virginia
- Invest in Chicago Union Station, as an initial step toward future improvements to the critical Midwest corridors hub
- Improve service in Maine, Montana, and Alaska
“This investment is another step forward as we advance transformative projects that will carry Americans for decades to come and provide them with convenient, climate-friendly alternatives to congested roads and airports,” Federal Railroad Administrator Bose said.
Can The Future of High-Speed Rail Be Found In Asia?
China built almost 40,000 kilometers of high-speed rail in just over a decade with long-term planning, execution, and a joint venture structure that ensures the active participation of federal and local governments in financing. The traffic on China’s high-speed trains has grown to 1.7 billion passengers a year.
Imagine the possibilities if the United States could build a similar high-speed rail infrastructure. "When it comes to expanding world-class passenger rail in America, including high-speed rail, clear progress is being made," said Administrator Bose.
Projects in the U.S. are moving forward with funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, requiring extensive planning, investment, and collaboration between many stakeholders, including government agencies, private investors, construction firms, engineering firms, manufacturers, labor unions, and local communities.
Regarding the California high-speed rail project, Fernandez says the team at the Authority is “highly motivated, confident, determined, and integrated.”
Will the Brightline West be a blueprint for the U.S.? It seems the industry may just be banking on it.
