If you want high speeds, it’s going to cost..

Amtrak’s president Alex Kummant told Congress on Wednesday that even with an investment of $7 billion, America’s rail company couldn’t cut the time on the route between Washington and New York by more than 25 minutes.

The statement came after members of the House transportation committee voiced their frustration about the lack of high speed rail transit in the United States.

Amtrak currently has no high speed service. The closest thing they offer is the Acela Express between Washington and Boston. The train averages 82 miles per hour and reaches a top speed of 150 miles per hour on some stretches.

The fact is that in most of the country, Amtrak rides the rails with numerous other trains, often slowing down service due to congestion. Owned by freight railroads, the tracks are often slow and delays on passenger trains are frequent.

The trip between New York and Washington generally takes 2 hours and 45 minutes on a track shared with other passenger trains and some freight carriers.

Upgrading the track would only address some difficulties and Amtrack’s president said that only a dedicated line could allow the company to implement a truly high speed service.

With its own line, Kummant says speeds of 125 to 150 miles per hour would be possible, cutting the time it takes to travel between Washington and New York by half. Upgrades and improvements will only be able to reduce the trip to 2 hours and 20 minutes, according to Kummant.

Cost estimates for a dedicated high speed rail run in the ballpark of $32 billion but Kummant isn’t sure that Amtrak can handle that kind of project.

“If you wrote us a check today, if I were you, I would be very wary of the execution,” he said.

www.amtrak.com