I never thought about it until I came upon this news item wherein US Pres. Obama allocated $8 billion for high-speed rail in the US, but how come the world's biggest superpower doesn't have a high-speed rail system? United Kingdom has one that connects them to France, China has one, and Japan has one, so how come the US doesn't have one?

If the US would want to live up to its name, "United States", then a high-speed rail would definitely unite them. It would promote local travel and instead of utilizing bus or cars to travel inland, high-speed rails would cut travel time, further enhancing the country's tourism industry. Most tourists would just go to one State in the US and would sometimes go to a nearby State if they're near the border but one thing that hinders tourists from traveling from state to state is that they have to pay extra to travel by air.

If the US could somehow come up with their own high-speed rail system that would connect all States, then this would certainly enhance their economy.