Why Has High-Speed Rail Not Developed in the U.S.?

Countries like Japan, France, and Germany have integrated high-speed rail as a key part of their national transportation networks. In contrast, the United States, despite being the world’s largest economy, has relatively underdeveloped high-speed rail. Why has the U.S. lagged behind? In this post, we’ll explore the geographic, economic, sociocultural, and political reasons behind this situation.     Vast Land and Urban Structure The U.S. spans about 4,500 km east to west and 2,500 km north to south. The distances between cities are long, and unlike Europe or Japan, the U.S. lacks many densely populated regions. For example, New York to Los Angeles is about 4,500 km, and New York to Chicago is around 1,200 km. Such long distances make high-speed rail less competitive, while short-distance corridors are limited in number. Moreover, U.S. cities are spread out rather than clustered. Unlike Europe’s Paris-London-Brussels or Japan’s Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya corridors, t...