Maybe I’m just predisposed to hate on Amtrak all the time, or maybe it’s because I took Japanese my freshman and sophomore years, but I know there are a lot of technologies out there that are far superior for on-the-ground people-moving.
You can’t take Japanese without learning about the shinkansen, or the bullet train. And after you memorize its translation, maybe your professor will tell you what a “bullet train” actually is (or probably not). It’s a train that moves by magnets and reaches speeds of over 300 km/hr (about 190 mph). It traverses all of Japan (which I guess isn’t that impressive since Japan is the size of New Jersey), from the northern tip in Hachinohe to the southwest in Fukuoka. A pass for a week is ~$272. Okay, pretty expensive. But one-way to New York on Amtrak is between $40 and $120!
Okay, then there’s the Eurostar. This thing reaches speeds of 300 km/hr (~186mph) and connects London, France and Belgium. It is also a bit pricey, but very fast. You can get from London to Paris for about $90 if you’re under 26 in about 2 hr 35 min. The Eurostar reaches over 130 towns and cities in England and transports those passengers to Europe.
France’s TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse) is the fastest train to date; it reached speeds of 357 mph (yes, miles per hour!) back in April, 2007.
(Apparently there is some tension between locomotive makers in Europe vs. those in Japan, battling for the highest speed. France has also sold its TGV to South Korea and wants to export it to South America and the States (yay!).)
So compared to all these trains, Amtrak’s Acela Express runs between measly speeds of 75 and 150 mph, according to Wikipedia. The latest news info I could find on Amtrak was an article from 1999 which talked about the American Flyer, a train that could reach speeds of 150mph. The problem is that all these types of trains are tilting trains and, as far as I can tell, that limits their speed (they could fall over, I guess?). This is most unfortunate for circumstances like when I want to go visit my Grandma in Connecticut and take Amtrak nearly 6 hours to Mystic, CT. 
The other problem is that the tracks that were laid (during the Great Depression, of course) are only capable of certain speeds (safely). So between tilting trains and old, rusty tracks, Amtrak’s speed is pretty much capped at 150mph, even if people were even looking into improving speeds (which I don’t think anyone is). That sucks. So what I think should be done is rip up all the old tracks (or lay new ones, and then rip up the old ones) and improve the damn thing. It’s downright ridiculous that you could travel from London to Paris (approx 289 driving miles) in 2hrs 38 mins, but it would take you the same amount time (2 hrs 48 mins) on the Acela Express to go from NYC to Washington, DC (225 driving miles). Same time, nearly a fourth less the distance (22%). Amtrak, what the hell?
Not to mention, think how fast it would be to get to the airport on a (non-existent, but we’re pretending here) express R1 – 7.6 miles @ 350mph? I know it’s not possible (yet!) but just imagine if it took you about 2 minutes to get to the airport.
