Periodically we hear mention of "Bullet Trains" being developed between large metropolitan areas. Last week I posted Serious Money: Freight Railroads - BNI, CSX, UNP & more and the first comment I received was about Bullet Trains. Not exactly on topic, but a hot topic nevertheless. That article was about investment ideas. Now to explore bigger ideas!

Bullet Trains are an ultra fast, ultra sleek, ultra modern way to get quickly and efficiently between major cities. Although utilized to great success in such countries as Japan and France, bullet trains apparently are too futuristic for the likes of the United States. They are always a part of some future plan, but always passed on as too expensive.

In California we have discussed high speed trains from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and from Los Angeles to Palmdale -- this one in hopes of moving some Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) traffic to the high desert. There is very high demand at LAX but the airport is congested, complicated, and hemmed in. A speedy, reliable transportation option between San Francisco and Los Angeles would be welcome by millions of residents.

High speed trains are under discussion or being planned for Australia, China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, and many other places. The Japanese and French, not surprisingly, are leading the way. The New York Times reported: French Train breaks rail speed record achieving speeds of 357 miles per hour. The report concludes that high speed trains have not caught on in the U.S. as they have in Europe, "where TGV travel is generally considered faster transportation than air travel for distances that the TGV can cover in less than three hours."

An obvious observation for anyone who's done any traveling. But sentiment tends to become official when the New York Times states it in print.

From what I have been able to find out The Florida Overland Express (FOX) is probably the furthest along, but, while the train will move fast - the development moves very slow. According to the website, Florida Governor Jeb Bush canceled this project in 1999. Once again the United States lags behind the rest of the developed (and developing) world when it comes to sensible solutions to environmental and social issues. So what else is new?

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the vice president for de.sign and research at an architecture & planning firm. Check out his other posts for BloggingStocks here.