Why US Built Interstate Highways But Struggles With High-Speed Rail

What Happened A user on Reddit’s “Explain Like I’m Five” forum asked why the United States could build its massive Interstate Highway System decades ago but now fails at constructing high-speed rail lines. The question touches on one of America’s most glaring infrastructure contradictions: a nation that once moved mountains to build highways now takes decades to plan a single rail line. The Interstate Highway System, launched in 1956 under President Eisenhower, connected every major American city with limited-access highways.