High-Speed Rail in the United States: Prospects, Politics, and Private Setbacks

Brightline, the Florida private rail operator founded in 2012, filed for bankruptcy last month after failing to generate enough revenue to service its debt. The company continues to run its Miami-Orlando service, which reaches 125 mph on a 38-mile stretch near Orlando, and it still promotes a planned 200-mph line that would cover the 200-mile corridor between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California (just outside Los Angeles).

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The United States once led global rail development, but for more than half a century it has lacked passenger trains that meet the international high-speed definition of at least 150 mph for extended trips. Instead, federal resources favored the interstate highway system and commercial aviation, a shift reinforced by lobbying from the auto, oil, construction, airline, and aerospace sectors. Geography also hampers U.S. efforts: many major cities are spaced over 400 miles apart, a distance at which air travel becomes faster than rail.

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• Brightline reported 1.8 million passengers in the second quarter, a 16 % increase from the prior year, and claims it was already profitable on an operating basis in some months.

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• Amtrak’s NextGen Acela, inaugurated on August 27 2025, can reach 160 mph but only in short bursts; it carries about 12 million riders annually on the Washington-Boston corridor.

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• The publicly funded California high-speed rail project, intended to link Los Angeles and San Francisco, has been described as “reached a dead end” by Thompson, who served on a peer-review group for the state-legislated effort. Construction of the Hanford Viaduct was documented on February 12 2025.

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• Despite these initiatives, the California project remains years behind schedule and billions over budget.

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He added that private capital alone cannot sustain high-speed rail without substantial government support, noting the broader public benefits of reduced pollution, noise, and improved land use.

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Andy Kunz, CEO of the advocacy group US High Speed Rail, expressed optimism that a successful Brightline Los Angeles-Las Vegas line could spur demand for additional services, even as he acknowledges the need for public investment.

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• “Once you get much beyond 400 miles (between destinations), then high speed rail begins to lose out to air because then air becomes faster (in the United States),” — Lou Thompson, speed rail advocate — Lou Thompson, speed-rail advocate.

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