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Plans for high-speed rail in the United States date back to the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965. Various state and federal proposals have followed. Definitions of what constitutes high-speed rail vary, including a range of speeds over 110 miles per hour and dedicated rail lines. Inter-city rail in the United States with top speeds of or more but below is sometimes referred to as higher-speed rail. There is one high-speed rail service in operation, the Acela Express running in the Northeast Corridor. There are plans for higher-speed rail and high-speed rail in California, the Midwest, New England, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, the Pacific Northwest, Colorado/ New Mexico, and the Southwestern United States. As of 2015, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is beginning construction on the California High Speed Rail project, which is planned to link Anaheim, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento and other major cities in the state. It will take at least until 2029 to complete, with its first stage targeted for completion in 2017.〔(After two-year delay, construction on California's bullet train is set to start ). Vartabedian, Ralph. ''Los Angeles Times'', 5 January 2015〕 == Definitions in American context == Authorities in the United States maintain various definitions of high-speed rail. The definitions range from rail services with top speeds of to or higher by the United States Department of Transportation which is an entity in the executive branch, while the United States Code, which is the official codification of Federal statutes, defines them as the rail services with "reasonably expected to reach sustained speeds of more than 125 miles per hour". A legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service, used different terms to clarify the confusion by defining the rail services with top speeds less than to be higher-speed rail.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42584.pdf )〕 There is no current train service in the United States which meets all of the domestic criteria for high-speed rail. Amtrak's ''Acela Express'' is classified as "higher-speed rail" in the Congressional Research Service report by virtue of being on shared tracks, whereas page 5 of that report also requires dedicated tracks to be classified as "very high speed rail".〔 Internationally, the Northeast Corridor where the Amtrak's ''Acela Express'' runs on is the only line in the United States that is recognized by the International Union of Railways to be a high-speed rail line in operation.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article2727 publisher=UIC High Speed Department )〕 In Europe the definition of a minimum speed for newly built high-speed railways is 250 km/h (155 mph); for upgraded high-speed railways it is 200 km/h (124 mph). In places where high-speed rail programs are in earlier developmental stages or where substantial speed increases are achieved by upgrading current infrastructure and/or introducing more advanced trains, lower minimum speed definitions of high-speed rail are used.〔EC Directive 96/48 defines high-speed rail in terms of speeds of the order of 125 mph (200 km/h) for existing, upgraded lines; and 155 mph (250 km/h) for lines specially built for high-speed travel. (【引用サイトリンク】title=General Definitions of Highspeed )〕 This is the case in the United States. For transportation planning purposes focussing on the development of high-speed rail, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) distinguishes four types of intercity passenger rail corridors: * ''High-Speed Rail – Express:'' Frequent, express service between major population centers 200–600 miles (320–965 km) apart, with few intermediate stops. Top speeds of at least 150 mph (240 km/h) on completely grade-separated, dedicated rights-of-way (with the possible exception of some shared track in terminal areas). Intended to relieve air and highway capacity constraints. * ''High-Speed Rail – Regional:'' Relatively frequent service between major and moderate population centers 100–500 miles (160–800 km) apart, with some intermediate stops. Top speeds of 110–150 mph (177–240 km/h), grade-separated, with some dedicated and some shared track (using positive train control technology). Intended to relieve highway and, to some extent, air capacity constraints. * ''Emerging High-Speed Rail:'' Developing corridors of 100–500 miles (160–800 km), with strong potential for future HSR Regional and/or Express service. Top speeds of up to 90–110 mph (145–177 km/h) on primarily shared track (eventually using positive train control technology), with advanced grade crossing protection or separation. Intended to develop the passenger rail market, and provide some relief to other modes. * ''Conventional Rail:'' Traditional intercity passenger rail services of more than 100 miles with as little as one to as many as 7–12 daily frequencies; may or may not have strong potential for future high-speed rail service. Top speeds of up to 79 mph to as high as 90 mph generally on shared track. Intended to provide travel options and to develop the passenger rail market for further development in the future. However, state-level departments of transportation and council of governments may also use different definitions for high-speed rail. For examples, North Central Texas Council of Governments uses the definition of the speeds over , and Texas Department of Transportation and Oklahoma Department of Transportation use the speeds of or more. These agencies have a separate category for higher-speed rail which can be a wide range of speeds between and . 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「High-speed rail in the United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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