Will the US get a high-speed rail network like in Europe or Japan? Not in the near future, but some meaning progress has been made.

With a mix of privately funded projects and upgrades to what already exists, America’s trains are finally set to speed up in the near future, reports City Lab.

Despite having long been left for dead, rail improvements and connections are coming to life in the U.S.—corridor by corridor, at varying velocities. In order to reduce bottlenecking issues in the North East Corridor (linking Boston to Washington DC), Amtrak has a $151 billion proposal to build separate high-speed tracks by 2030, but without dedicated federal commitment to the plan, the only kind of progress the NEC is likely to see is incremental. The only place likely to enjoy true high-speed rail soon is California.

 In the absence of much dedicated federal funding, private investments and state funding are giving alternative solutions. 

However, the industry won't be wrong to expect a cash-injection into high-speed projects under Donald Trump Presidency. Trump has compared America’s railroads to those of third-world countries and made envious references to Chinese bullet trains: "They have trains that go 300 miles per hour," he said in March. "We have trains that go chug-chug-chug."

As reported today in City Lab (The Atlantic).