The Feasibility of a High-Speed Rail Network in the U.S.

James Glabe and Rachel Swaby over at Wired have a pretty solid piece on the future of high-speed rail in the U.S. With the government setting aside $8 billion of recovery funds to be spread over a few rail markets (California, Texas, the Midwest, Florida, and the Northeast), this is a project that could significantly affect commuter air travel in the Northeast, Texas, and California and provide a far more convenient means of transportation for traditionally road-going travelers in the Midwest and Florida. Especially worth considering is the benefit to historically remote towns that will have convenient access to major cities.

For anyone interested in some of the numbers behind all of this (which are still speculative at best), check out Jonathan Rothwell's post on The Avenue at tnr.com.

UPDATE: Bradford Plumer at The New Republic details the White House announcement regarding the distribution of the $8 billion. "Illinois will get $1.1 billion to upgrade tracks so that three of the five trains running between Alton and Dwight can travel at speeds of 110 mph."

If you're going to cover the approximately 200 miles between Alton and Dwight, why not just add on a bit more and go for Chicago and St. Louis? Or perhaps focus on a shorter route that covers Chicago to Madison via Milwaukee (in concert with the $810 million that Wisconsin was given for the Madison/Milwaukee route)?