Mr Diridon, chairman emeritus of the California High Speed Rail Authority, was addressing like-minded folk at the annual meeting of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association.
Caroline Flint, Labour's shadow energy secretary, said that the plans failed to address issues such as excessive charges on private pensions, and costs affecting consumers such as high rail fares.
"Based on our company's 45 years of experience with high-speed rail in Japan, bringing high-speed rail to the United States will translate into jobs, " said Mike Finnegan, an executive with US-Japan High Speed Rail and US-Japan Maglev.
High Speed One, the operator of the high rail speed link from St Pancras in London to the Channel Tunnel, also confirmed it would be pleased to see rivals use the service - and as importantly, that there was the space for them.
The decision is a signal that China is slowing its ambitious high-speed rail program, which has put the country in the same league as Japan and Europe in terms of high-speed rail development, government run newspaper China Daily reported on Thursday.
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The question is whether social returns from high-speed rail are high enough to justify investment.
To attract new businesses to our shores, we need the fastest, most reliable ways to move people, goods, and information, from high- speed rail to high-speed Internet.
The third way that we need to invest is in our infrastructure -- everything from new roads and bridges to high-speed rail and high-speed Internet -- projects that create hundreds of thousands of private sector jobs.
And that means competition is going to be much more fierce and the winners of this competition will be the countries that have the most educated workers, a serious commitment to research and technology, and access to quality infrastructure like roads and airports and high-speed rail and high-speed Internet.
And lasting opportunities for the middle class in areas like clean energy, the smart grid, high-speed rail, and high-technology changes will take place.
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The Railways are targeting budget and aspiring airline travellers, high value rail passengers and car owners.
And the Transport Committee has supporters and opponents of the controversial HS2 (high speed rail) scheme.
There are a number of proposals for high speed rail lines floating around at the moment.
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Should I put in the high speed rail that goes to the airport or not?
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David Crane, Special Advisor to the Governor and Chair, High Speed Rail Commission, California.
The proposed route for the high speed rail line HS2 ignores Stoke-on-Trent, according to some city residents.
The government's plans for the proposed high speed rail line from London to Birmingham are currently under consultation.
Mr Clegg also promised more high speed rail links and surcharges on most flights under a Lib Dem government.
Chris Adams, who took Wendover for UKIP, said the high speed rail line was a deciding factor in the election.
Other areas relating to Scotland include plans for a new high speed rail network and the scrapping of ID cards.
He also insisted the government would press ahead with their plans for a high speed rail link between London Birmingham.
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It recognised the strong economic and environmental case for the UK high speed rail link to include Scotland from the outset.
Mrs Gillan said she still hoped to stop the HS2 plan for a new high speed rail route between London and Birmingham.
Road funding has also been whittled away by other federal transportation projects like truck safety, transit grants and even high speed rail.
But then, would high speed rail really move growth out, or would it make the whole country into Greater London's commuter belt?
It also considered the case for a high speed rail link between London and south Wales as well as an improved north-south line.
But it really is true, that we need to cancel all of the high speed rail lines currently proposed and start all over again.
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But when you're sitting in Birmingham or Manchester, you can see why many people outside London think high speed rail will actually make things worse.
The committee also took evidence from Professor David Begg from the Campaign for High Speed Rail, who said that opposition to the scheme was understandable.
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