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From American Rail Club November 17, 2018

https://youtu.be/PZdA10b-tgY This is the dream of American Rail nearly two years ago.  Well narrated, good visuals and a hopeful message. Sadly, the national and international financial situation has changed dramatically.   The regulatory hurdles haven't really changed to the degree that they're encouraging or allowing the expansion of safe, reliable train transportation.   The core regulatory agency, the Surface Transportation Board remains firmly in the hands of the top tier of freight transportation companies.  Those companies jealously guard existing and even abandoned rights of way from being used by passenger rail.  Just briefly mentioned in the video above, is the opposition to rail by Southwest Airlines. They see passenger rail as competition rather than a potential supplement to air transport. Airlines like to claim that government will be funding rail transit and condemn government intervention in the free market....
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Rail Insider-RailUSA sets out to start up, turn around short lines, regionals. Information For Rail Career Professionals From Progressive Railroading Magazine

Rail Insider-RailUSA sets out to start up, turn around short lines, regionals. Information For Rail Career Professionals From Progressive Railroading Magazine : Progressive Railroading - A locomotive moves along the Florida rail line that RailUSA took over from CSX on June 1.
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Recommendation: American Rail Club

I recommend joining and viewing the videos of American Rail Club. https://youtu.be/-O0Kf1IHFkQ https://youtu.be/03gA1xrnXWs I disagree with the host's solution to the problems of US railroads.  He believes that the answer is the free market. So why do I recommend American Rail Club? I like the host of the YouTube channel.  He cares.  He's also one of the few people out there who's knowledgeable about the railroad industry and he's willing to share his knowledge with the public.  He isn't a "trolley jolly" train buff. He's as critical of the railroads shortcomings as I am, maybe even more so. He's no corporate shill.  He genuinely wants better transportation for everyone. Thank you! Now, let me spend a little time trashing my new friend.  I don't really want to trash him.  I only want to trash the free market idea. The more time he spends looking at who's paying the bills for railroads, the more I think that he'll proba...
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Mish Mosh of Why China Has Better High Speed Rail Than US

https://youtu.be/hs392e7z99Y The most useful and relevant information about building railroads is towards the middle of this video. China has standardized numerous parts and supplies for their railroad construction, such as tracks and embankments.  This speeds up the ordering of components for bridges and lowers costs.  Most supplies are locally sourced along the new routes which help local industry.  Temporary factories along the route reduce transportation costs of the building components.  Allegedly, no supplies need to be transported more than 8 kilometers (five miles). Viaduct designs are limited.  Using numerous viaducts preserves farmland, cross rivers  reduces the number of at grade crossings, and eliminates interference with other roads and highways.  That grade seperation is what allows the trains to go high speed. Bridge beems for viaducts are either 24 meters (78 feet) or 32 meters 104 feet) long.  No other choices are av...
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China's Politically Powered High Speed Rail

https://youtu.be/0JDoll8OEFE This is the best and most succinct YouTube video that I've seen which points out the political motivations behind China's high speed rail development. Basically it makes no economic sense as a for profit enterprise.  But it make every bit of sense as a political operation to overwhelm both ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet and democracy leaning Han Chinese in Hong Kong. Like everywhere else, private enterprise won't build infrastructure in China because it's not profitable.  But with massive government subsidies to lower the cost of travel by rail and Beijing shouldering the debt from construction, then private companies are quite happy to apply themselves to high speed rail. By Wendover Productions
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