• Frank
• Jul 17,2008
• In: Blog

Entrepreneurship, High-Speed and Rail Travel

In the United States we get the last one. Europe generally has the last two. Now it seems Italy is getting all three, a welcome move from those of us who decry the socialistic rail systems in most countries. Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, a private company, has announced plans to open competition with the state-owned monopoly starting in 2011. The $1.4 billion project will link Rome, Milan, Turin, Venice, Florence, Bologna, Naples, Bari and Salerno. From Gulliver (hat tip):

The trains—the new Automotrice Grande Vitesse designed by Alstom, a French company—will travel at 190mph, cutting the four-hour Rome-Milan journey to three hours.

Perhaps, if Amtrak were to be deregulated and privatized, we would be seeing similar things in America. In any case, the trains are quite spiffy: