Bit by bit a line becomes a system

摘要

During the 1990s, the United States experienced a mini-boom of interest in high speed rail. In New York, Gov. Mario Cuomo proposed a maglev line to Buffalo, while the South saw European-style proposals such as the Texas TGV and Florida Overland eXpress systems. All of these plans failed. One by one, each succumbed to changes in the political landscape, rapidly rising cost estimates, and the unraveling of complex private-sector partnerships. Almost nothing grew out of this high speed rail spring fever. Nothing, that is, except for one system that defied every convention to become the most promising new passenger rail system in the country: the Amtrak Cascades. It is not so surprising then as the country once more flirts with the idea of high speed rail, that this quirky regional system once again is poised to reap most of the benefits.