Missouri High Speed Rail: Mission Impossible? | Part I

This is the first of a three-part series about high speed rail in Missouri:

A lot has been said and written about high speed rail (HSR) in the United States over the years. Yet, there are no true dedicated HSR lines in the US today. Currently, the closest thing is the Acela train in the northeast corridor, connecting Boston to Washington D.C.

The Acela electric train reaches a top speed of 150 MPH - which may be fast enough to consider it HSR - but the average speed between D.C. and New York is only ~82 MPH, and on the New York-Boston segment this drops to ~63 MPH, which makes the average speed over the entire route ~72 MPH.

{Acela Express train at Newhaven State Street Station. Flickr photo by Thuanphotos}