High-speed rail, right here, in Kansas City

KC would be part of the “Chicago Hub Network.” Obama sounds hopeful that the $8 billion in the Recovery Act and $1 billion a year for five years in his budget will get the project started. Obama said:

There’s no reason why we can’t do this. This is America. There’s no

reason why the future of travel should lie somewhere else beyond our

borders. Building a new system of high-speed rail in America will be

faster, cheaper and easier than building more freeways or adding to an

already overburdened aviation system — and everybody stands to benefit.

The plan is ambitious but intriguing.