The raw power of the mighty iron horse has inspired music, art, and literature, but one has to wonder whether technocrats in Richmond are equally romantic in their pursuit of a “high-speed” rail connection between Washington, D.C. and Charlotte, North Carolina. The Washington Examiner reports today that public hearings are being held this week in the Richmond area to discuss the proposed alignments. The obvious question that ought to be asked is, “Why?”

The designation “high-speed” is dubious when we consider that the top speed of the proposed trains will be only 90-110 miles per hour. Genuinely high-speed trains in Europe and Asia are capable of breathtaking speeds in excess of 200 m.p.h. but the Acela train in the Northeast Corridor only achieves its top speed of 150 m.p.h. on two small stretches of track in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and frequent stops bring the average speed down to 72 m.p.h.