Back in college, they always taught us journalism people to make sure we mention the most important fact of a story in the first line. You know, inverted pyramid and all that. So, here goes: the thing that I am about to talk about would cost $117 billion and would not be complete until 2040.

That said: holy moley, is this PDF some sweet transit porn, or what?

Amtrak released that document yesterday, its plans to create a new high speed rail network along the Northeast Corridor, one that would rival European and Asian HSR systems in terms of scope and speed. You can’t tell me that getting to and from Washington and Boston in three hours doesn’t sound awesome, let alone being able to go from D.C. to New York in an hour. Whoo, 220 miles per hour! Now we’re living!

But, oh those pesky facts, getting in the way of all our wildest dreams and fantasies. It’s pretty ridiculous to think that Amtrak — which has always had difficulties securing funding for anything but the bare minimum from the federal government — would suddenly be entrusted with over a hundred billion dollars to supply service to but one section (albeit an incredibly influential one) of the country. No promise of revenue is going to convince some legislator from Wyoming that the kind of money that Amtrak would need for this project should be given to them. Plus, you know, there’s the whole airline industry, who probably wouldn’t be too thrilled about trains becoming a legitimate threat to their business. Also, read through the PDF carefully — do you see the kind of infrastructure this proposed HSR system would need? Amtrak’s talking about building several brand new stations in many locations along the route. This thing’s a legislative mess, wrapped up in some incredibly shiny packaging.

Sorry to be a buzzkill. But it’s fun to dream, isn’t it?