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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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American voters overwhelmingly support the construction of new high-speed railways across the country according to a new poll conducted exclusively for Newsweek.
The survey found 60 percent of eligible voters back additional construction against just seven percent who are opposed, with a majority also backing a ban on short-haul flights which can be covered by rail in less than two and a half hours.
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The past few years has seen a renaissance in interest in high-speed rail in the United States, with a number of schemes either under construction or being developed. An advanced high-speed rail network already exists in Japan, much of western Europe and China, where in 2021 it totaled 25,000 miles according to Statista.
A new 171-mile high-speed line linking San Francisco and Los Angeles is currently being built by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, which hopes to later extend it to Sacramento and San Diego. Separately work began in April on a new 218-mile high-speed railway between Las Vegas in Nevada and southern California. In Texas there are proposals for two new high-speed lines connecting Dallas to both Houston and Fort Worth, though they remain in the preliminary stages.
A poll of 1,500 eligible voters across the U.S. conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on 11-12 June, found strong public support for the building of new high-speed railways.
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Those surveyed were told about the two lines currently under construction in California, along with the proposals in Texas, after which they were asked "to what extent, if at all, would you support or oppose the construction of more high-speed rail lines in the United States?"
In response 28 percent answered "strongly support," another 32 percent "support," 25 percent "neither support nor oppose," four percent oppose and three percent "strongly oppose," with a further eight percent answering "don't know."
Notably high-speed rail construction was popular with voters who backed both Joe Biden and Donald Trump at the 2020 presidential election. For the former, 67 percent said they either "strongly support" or "support" additional railways, against just five percent who were opposed or strongly opposed. With 2020 Trump voters constructing high-speed railways had 59 percent support, against nine percent who were actively opposed.
The survey also showed most Americans would support bans on short-haul flights along routes that are also covered by high speed trains, mimicking legislation introduced to this effect in France.
Respondents were asked: "In 2021, France introduced a ban on short-haul domestic flights if there is a rail alternative that could cover the journey in less than two hours and a half. To what extent, if at all, do you agree or disagree that high-speed rail could eventually become an alternative to short-haul flights between American cities?"
In response 22 percent said "strongly agree" with another 36 percent for "agree," against six percent for "disagree" and four percent for "strongly disagree." The remainder was made up of 25 percent who said they "neither agree nor disagree" and seven percent for "don't know."
However support for phase one of California's high-speed rail network, which will link San Francisco to Los Angeles, was substantially lower once registered voters were told about the delays and cost overruns that have dogged the project.
Those surveyed were asked: "High-speed rail projects are expensive. Phase 1 of California's high-speed rail project, taking travelers from San Francisco to Los Angeles, was originally approved in 2008, when it was anticipated to be operational by 2020 and cost $33 billion.
"Four years past the deadline, the project remains uncompleted, and the estimated cost is now $128 billion. If a high-speed rail line is eventually constructed between San Francisco and Los Angeles, do you think a projected cost of $128 billion would have been worth it?"
In response 40 percent replied "yes," 33 percent "no" with the remaining 27 percent for "don't know." Cornell University's Law School defines high-speed rail as including those lines that are "reasonably expected to reach speeds of at least 110 miles per hour."
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Speaking to Newsweek Andy Kunz, president of the U.S. High Speed Rail Coalition, said he welcomed the survey results. The coalition is made up of 46 companies and unions from across the rail industry and campaigns in favor of high-speed railway construction in the U.S. https://ushsrcoalition.org/
Kunz said: "American voters continue to support California's high-speed rail project and overwhelmingly favor building a nationwide bullet train network, because it makes sense and is a great form of transportation.
"Around the nation, political, business and labor leaders are listening to voters with bullet train projects now underway or being planned in California, Nevada, Texas, the Pacific Northwest, the Southeast and elsewhere."
Professor Ian Savage, who heads Northwestern University's Transportation and Logistics Program, told Newsweek support for high-speed rail in the U.S. is linked to the increasingly congested highway network.
He said: "I think that public sentiment is a reflection of increased population and highway traffic. Rail travel fell out of favor in the 1950s. Since 1950 the population has more than doubled and the number of motor vehicles registered has increased sixfold. The free flowing newly-constructed interstate highways of midcentury have become less attractive as they become more congested.
"It does not surprise me that the public in parts of the country where population density has increased most are looking for travel alternatives for trips that are too short for flying. Rail is particularly attractive for trips of 200-250 miles, and for shorter distances where the parallel roads are especially congested. In these places, what was once old is now new again."
However Professor Mark Burris, a transportation expert at the University of Texas A&M University, told Newsweek high-speed rail could struggle with competition from automobiles, particularly once driverless car technology becomes widespread.
He said: "I am not surprised by the results of the survey. The idea of HSR (high speed rail) is very appealing, especially to those of us who have enjoyed using it in Europe and Asia (myself included).
"But when you examine places like Texas where the vast majority of people looking to travel significant distances already have a car, live in suburbs where they would likely want to drive their car to/from the HSR station, and have access to an excellent interstate highway system, the numbers don't work well for HSR when comparing it to taking your car the whole trip.
"Add automated vehicles on freeways sometime in the relatively near future and you can take your own car and sleep/watch a movie/work while sitting in your own car and it's even harder for HSR to compete."
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