We have serious passenger rail problems in Canada and the USA. We are almost half a century behind in the development of modern high speed trains. To his credit, President Obama realized this problem and in 2009 announced his vision for modernizing the outdated U.S. passenger rail system. Perhaps they should have used the phrase "higher speed rail" instead of high speed rail, since most money would go to upgrading existing rail infrastructure. The President knew the economic, social, and environmental benefits that could happen. While progress has definitely been made, the current political quagmire of American politics has made acceptance and implementation of his plan difficult. The national passenger rail carrier Amtrak is carrying record ridership. In June 2013 more people rode Amtrack that month than in its history: 2.9 million people. Its signature high speed train the Acela Express has done very well. In Canada the situation is very grave for the future of a...