Intercity rail could work well in U.S.

Is 2008 the year when Americans get back on track?

After a half a century of cutthroat competition from the country's highways and skyways, disregard from the federal government and disdain of the traveling public, the U.S. intercity passenger railway system is in tatters.

Even though every other industrialized nation recognizes the importance of having and subsidizing a vibrant intercity passenger rail system, the current administration in Washington has tried to eliminate subsidies entirely. Fortunately, these efforts have been forestalled, at least temporarily. The 109th Congress created the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, which established the Passenger Rail and Working Group.

Last month Congress authorized a 2.4 percent increase in Amtrak funding for 2008 to $1.325 billion, based on the working group's recommendations. That's enough to avert a total shutdown and begin modest improvements in intercity service. The working group has proposed an expansion of the Intercity Passenger Rail Network by 2050.

It's a start, but much more must be done. And quickly.

Passenger rail has long been dismissed in this country as a transportation dinosaur.

Besides everybody knows it's faster to fly and cheaper (and faster) to drive. But the calculations underlying those anti-rail assumptions must be refigured.

Factor in the time to get to and from airports, to comply with 9/11 security procedures, along with the possibility of schedule delays, and it's clear air travel is not as expeditious as it once was.

Intercity passenger rail works well in Japan, across Europe and in Canada. It is subsidized everywhere by governments that recognize the fundamental role passenger trains play in the commerce of the country. Dedicated high-speed rail lines are slashing the travel time between population centers, with trains that surpass commercial airlines in terms of comfort, amenities and reliability.

Spain, for example, will have 4,350 miles of high -speed rail by 2010.