Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Are there any companies that will profit from the making of the rapid transport system between Boston and Washington or New York and Washington and between Los Angeles and San Francisco or San Diego and San Francisco? Is it worth investing in them? Thank you for your insight, as always.

Article Excerpt

In 2009, U.S. President Obama set a goal to provide 80% of Americans with access to high-speed rail within 25 years. This led to the creation of the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program (HSIPR), a plan to create a high-speed rail network in the U.S. However, high-speed rail is very costly, and a lack of committed long-term funding is a significant obstacle to its development. There are two main approaches to building high-speed rail: (1) improving existing tracks and signalling to allow trains to reach speeds of up to 110 miles per hour, generally on track shared with freight trains; and (2) building new tracks dedicated to high-speed passenger rail service to allow trains to travel at speeds of 200 miles per hour or more. The potential costs—and benefits—are much lower with the first approach and higher with the second. Therefore, much of the $10.1 billion of federal funding for high-speed rail to date has been allocated for improving existing lines in…