Disputation Car

Kevin Baker’s article on American rail travel [“21st Century Limited,” Folio, July] covered much of the same territory I did in my recent book, Train. But Baker came to opposite conclusions about California’s high-speed rail project, which he lambastes as a waste of money. Critics have been saying the same thing about Amtrak for decades, yet it still provides reliable, low-cost transportation for people across the country. In the same fashion, high-speed rail does not have a prayer of paying for itself in strict terms of dollars and cents. But it will be environmentally friendly, visually pleasing, and…