5 New High-Speed Trains Coming to the U.S.

Traveling from Milan to Rome on the high-speed Frecciarossa train takes under three hours, while the Shinkansen bullet train whisks you from Tokyo to Osaka in just two and a half hours. In contrast, traveling between major U.S. cities has typically meant long road trips or flights, with trains often seen as a novelty for slow-travel fans wanting to enjoy the scenery.

However, with a complete renovation of Amtrak’s Acela fleet in the Northeast Corridor scheduled for late 2024 and several major routes in the works over the next decade, that scenario is set to change. Here’s what’s ahead for high-speed train travel in the United States.

1. Portland to Vancouver

In July 2019, the Washington State Department of Transportation submitted a report advocating for a high-speed rail line along the Cascadia Corridor, connecting Portland, Oregon, to Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. A new bill introduced by the Oregon Legislature in 2023 would mandate the line’s extension to Eugene, Oregon, if approved.

If realized, these trains will reach speeds of up to 250 miles per hour. The new route will reduce the 5.5-hour drive from Vancouver to Portland to just two hours, and the three-hour drive from Seattle to Vancouver to less than one hour. Travel between Portland and Seattle could also be under an hour instead of over three hours by car.

Although Amtrak currently runs its existing Cascades service along this corridor, it faces competition from freight and commuter trains sharing the same tracks, which significantly slows travel times. Currently, it takes more than eight hours to journey between Portland and Vancouver via Amtrak. The proposed plans aim to construct a new passenger line to eliminate these delays.

2. Las Vegas to Southern California

Since 2005, the privately owned rail company XpressWest has aimed to establish a high-speed train route that links Las Vegas to Southern California in under two hours.

In September 2018, Brightline West took over the project after XpressWest faced financial challenges in securing funds to start construction on the 185 miles of track connecting Las Vegas to Victorville, California, a city near Los Angeles. Plans also include extending the line to the Metrolink station in Rancho Cucamonga, allowing passengers to access Brightline West without needing a car.

In February 2023, Brightline West announced a partnership with the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition to commence work on the line later this year. This $10 billion project is anticipated to create 35,000 jobs, with operations expected to start in 2027.

3. Miami to Tampa

The privately owned Brightline high-speed trains began operations along Florida’s east coast in 2018, reducing the travel time between Miami and Fort Lauderdale to just 30 minutes by train.

As of September 2023, Brightline now provides service from five stations in South Florida—Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach—to the nation’s theme park capital, Orlando. Brightline plans to further extend its route, with a station coming to Tampa, Florida, in the future.

4. Houston to Dallas

Privately owned Texas Central Partners has aimed to construct a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston since 2014. However, issues regarding eminent domain led to the plans being indefinitely suspended until early August 2023, when the company revealed it is in discussions with Amtrak to develop the railway. Amtrak estimates the train could eliminate 100,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and remove 12,500 cars from the interstate each day. Texas Central Partners intends to utilize an international version of the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet trains that operate between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan; trains in Texas could reach speeds of up to 200 mph.

“This high-speed train, leveraging advanced and proven Shinkansen technology, has the potential to transform rail travel in the southern U.S., and we believe Amtrak would be the ideal partner to help us realize that vision,” stated Texas Central CEO Michael Bui.

The proposed 240-mile route would enable travel between Houston and Dallas (two of the top five major cities in the U.S.) in just 90 minutes, compared to the current travel time of nearly hours by car. The company has yet to announce when construction or service will commence.

5. San Francisco to Los Angeles

California's proposed high-speed rail line aimed at connecting Los Angeles with San Francisco has faced numerous challenges, ranging from increasing costs to political resistance. In February 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to scale back the project, leading the U.S. Transportation Department to cancel $929 million in grant funding. Officials state that there are insufficient funds to complete the project, with $9.8 billion already spent.

Originally proposed in 2008, the current project, despite its hurdles, is still in progress: 119 miles are currently under construction in the Central Valley between Bakersfield and Madera, and 422 of the 500 miles required to finalize the railway have received environmental clearance.

A completion date for the high-speed rail has yet to be determined, but once finished, it will reduce the six-hour (or more) drive between San Francisco and Los Angeles to under three hours on trains capable of speeds up to 220 miles per hour. (Currently, the train journey between the two cities takes over 10 hours on Amtrak.)

Reporting for this article was contributed by Mae Hamilton. Originally published online in 2018, it was most recently updated on November 15, 2023, to reflect current information.