The US does not have any form of high speed rail system to compare to European and Asian standards. In post-World War II United States, travel by cars and planes became easier for a greater percentage of Americans due to improvements in these technologies. In Europe and Japan, emphasis was given to rebuilding the existing, dense railway network after the war. In the United States, emphasis was given to airports and an extensive national interstate highway system. Thus, U.S. passenger trains were unable to compete with the postwar growth in airline and highway travel. (Cited from Wiki)
Northeast Corridor highways have become to congested, and environmental nightmare as for what we're doing to our atmosphere. Reduce our dependancy on oil!