The Need for Speed - WSJ Opinion Article

Opinion article in the Wall Street Journal about the latest Amtrak funding bill in Congress.  Congress wants to allow private industry to submit bids on building a high speed train between NYC and DC (Amtrak can submit a bid too). The Acela train takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes to cover the distance between the two cites; high speed trains in Europe cover roughly the same distance in about half the time. Why can't the US have a train service that's on par with performance of high speed trains in Europe? Good question and I think it's worth soliciting bids from the private sector to see what options there are to improve speed along the NEC. I'd like to see proposals for high speed trains all the way North to Boston from DC, not just up to NYC. Any high speed development along the NEC (any development period actually) would benefit Philly-NYC commuters with more options and ultimately better service.