![]() But none of the high-speed rail plans or projects underway three decades ago succeeded. In March 1990, The New York Times reported efforts to build a high-speed rail system linking Ohio cities, a project based on Florida’s plans for an anticipated 325-mile high-speed rail. In August 1992, Scientific American also ran a feature on the promise of maglev trains. Still, PopSci was not alone in covering the hope for high-speed rail in the US. Unfortunately, neither project came to fruition. “Florida recently approved a plan to build a magnetically levitated, or maglev, train system that would begin operating in 1996,” wrote senior contributing editor Chris O’Malley, further adding that high-speed rail was going to be dashing through Texas as soon as 1998. ![]() What’s more, California, Texas, Nevada, and the Northeast, all have rapid rail projects that have been sputtering along for years.īut three decades ago, in June 1992, Popular Science published a story that predicted high-speed rail would soon launch in major US regions, with more to follow. To be fair, Amtrak did announce that its new top speed for its Acela train on northeast routes, or Northeast Corridor (NEC), is 150 mph on a 16-mile track segment in New Jersey-still shy of other high-speed rail like China’s recently upgraded Beijing-Wuhan line that zips between 190 to 220 mph. But here in the US, home to more than 150,000 miles of railroad tracks- the most in the world-it’s been high-speed rail crickets. And Japan, which debuted the bullet train in 1964, will be opening a new 41-mile high-speed rail line from Takeo Onsen to Nagasaki. China opened 140 new miles of high-speed rail, while also showcasing a line dedicated for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Italy unveiled direct high-speed rail links from Rome’s airport to Naples and Florence. France revealed its next generation high-speed train, TGV M, which is larger, more carbon efficient, and travels up to 220 mph. ![]() In just the past year, countries around the world have continued rolling out high-speed trains. Read the series and explore all our 150th anniversary coverage here. In the Are we there yet? column we check in on progress towards our most ambitious promises. From cities in the sky to robot butlers, futuristic visions fill the history of PopSci. ![]()
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