I have no problem with high-speed rail service as long as it is run by private corporations. We've seen what happens when govt. runs a railroad. Since a large part of the dollar amounts involved in any rail project have to do with land acquisition and the enviro challenges to those purchases, a chunk of that problem is solved! The rights-of-way are there, they'll just have to make it impossible for folks to get onto the tracks. The results of a high speed railway accident are not pretty. Remember the one in Europe a few years ago?
As long as it supports itself, a la the airlines, I'm all for it. I love trains, it's just that Amtrak has such crappy service and the connections are awful. We thought about having our son come from Pittsburgh to Worcester, and it was going to take 17 hours including a 5 hour layover in Philly! That was nuts! It only takes 11 hours max to DRIVE there!
But the airlines don't support themselves. Go back to post #1 and click the link to the article I posted several days ago. It goes into detail about federal subsidies for air, water and road transportation.