An Analysis Of The Development Of High-Speed Railway System In The United States

The evolution of transportation systems stimulated by evolving transporting technologies has always been an important approach and clue to historic researches. In the case of railway systems in North America, previous researches have been done from historical and economic perspectives. These are productive and retrospective researches, and the scholars have reached almost unanimous view on the great contribution of the United States’ railway system. Therefore, there are foundations for more specific study on the railway system in the United States, like the development of high-speed railway system.It is reasonable to presume that during 1970 s, the railway system in the United States should have made its first step towards upgrading the existing railway network and thereby enter the high-speed railway age. The reason is that back to then, the high-speed railway system in Japan and Europe had already demonstrated its significance. However, the truth is that it has not made that step even until recent days. There should be reasons which are worthy of studying.Therefore in this paper, the author probes into the development of railway system, especially the high-speed railway system in United Sates of America. The author will analyze the undeveloped status of American high-speed railway system, the impediments that lead to that undeveloped status, clarify the unreasonableness of the high-speed railway system in the United States and additionally analyze its prospects on the basis of its current status. In addition, as a nation with similar area of territory as the United States, China is making a great impact upon the world by its emerging grand high-speed railway network. The case in China thus provides a good reference to the development of high-speed railway system, so the relevant contents in China will also be included.