Quote from peilthetraveler:
A high speed rail if anything like other countries would still cost as much to ride as a plane for the ticket. I remember when I needed a flight from Amsterdam to Paris and the Eurorail ticket was 94 euros. A plane ticket was also 94 euros. Basically Obama wants to build a rail system for people that are afraid to fly.
Of course, if the government knows something we dont...like oil is going to run out for sure in the next 15 years or something like that, then yeah...53 billion is a good investment.