New York Times mentions High Speed Rail in Madison, WI

On February 19th, the New York Times published an article by Micheal Cooper discussing the effect of the stimulus package on high speed rail.

In the article, Mr. Cooper discussed how the biggest and farthest along high speed rail project is the one in California and how part of the stimulus bill would go to the project.

Then further down in the article, Mr. Cooper mentions other prominent high speed rail projects across the U.S.:

"Many other states also have big plans. North Carolina, which is part of the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor, will seek some of the stimulus money to speed rail service between Charlotte and Washington. Wisconsin wants to use some of it on a line linking Madison and Chicago, hoping to have trains running up to 110 m.p.h."
(Bold my own)

It is exciting to know that other people are discussing a rail project in the great state of Wisconsin. It is also exciting to think about taking the train down to Chicago from Madison for a weekend vacation or to O'Hare International Airport (ORD). Also, with an estimated rail speed of 110 mph, that would mean that using a train would be FASTER than using a car.

Another interesting point that Mr. Cooper made was that the U.S. defines high speed rail as above 90 mph. Compare that to trains in Germany and Japan which have trains that run at over 180 mph (more that double!), that's slightly (really) pathetic.