Just build the damned tracks

I've been back and forth enough times to know that parts of this wikipedia entry, though maybe theoretically accurate, are practically just wrong:

High-speed rail is usually defined as traveling faster than 200 km/h, or about 125 mph. The highest speed attained by Acela Express is 150 mph (241 km/h) on two sections of track in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, which total 18 miles (29 km). There are also many miles of track, especially north of New Haven, that have been upgraded to 110 mph and 125 mph (177 km/h and 201 km/h). South of New York, Acela Express is limited to 135 mph (217 km/h) with many stretches of 125 mph (201 km/h). Although the track is straight enough to allow 150 mph (241 km/h) in several areas here, the overhead catenary support system was constructed during the Great Depression. As such, it does not have the constant-tension features of the new catenary east of New Haven, and it cannot support running speeds over 135 mph (217 km/h). The slowest section of the electrified NEC is the portion owned by Metro-North Railroad and the Connecticut Department of Transportation between New Haven and New Rochelle. Trains here are limited to only 90 mph (145 km/h) on a four-mile (6-km) stretch in New York State, and to 75 mph (121 km/h) between the New York state line and New Haven. Additionally, tilting is not allowed anywhere on Metro-North or ConnDOT property. At maximum tilt, the built-too-wide Acela Express trainset would pass other trains on parallel tracks only 10 inches (25 cm) away.

[Emphasis mine]

I don't think I've ever gone through Connecticut in an Acela at more than 15 mph. OK, maybe 40, but that's it for the entire state of Connecticut. Every time I'm on that train I think that fixing this problem really should be a fairly easy bipartisan thing:

1.) Taxpayers paid for an expensive [not-quite-as-fast-as-Europe] high-speed-rail, and instead got a very expensive commuter train because someone decided not to build dedicated tracks in CT.

2.) Lots of people [trust me: every Acela I've ridden is filled to maximum capacity] really enjoy riding the Acela in full knowledge of the fact that they're paying almost three times as much to do so than what a taxpayer-subsidized flight would cost.

3.) Improved transportation options in the "Megalopolis" will more than pay for themselves in terms of increased mobility for tens (hundreds?) of thousands of families like ourselves who need to span that distance. More mobility = higher productivity. True competition between different forms of transportation = more efficiency.

This is pretty simple shit, folks. We're not talking about building some magic bullet solution like Star Trek "transporters" here. Just a track where the Acela can chug along at about the same speed in CT as it does in NJ. Not. Rocket. Science. Let's get some Congressional oversight to fix this problem, build dedicated tracks then add more trains and voila, more customers will appear. We don't even need to mention such "hot-button" issues like OMGOMG "climate change" or "the environment" or "air" or meaningless stuff like that.