High-speed rail: Playing catch-up

Re: “High-speed trains: ‘Let the private sector build the line’ ” [Oct. 9, Northwest Voices]:

I am always amazed when I hear someone ranting against subsidies for transit.

Why is it that using public funding to build better rail transit is bad but providing tens of billions of dollars each year to the fossil-fuel industry to keep gasoline prices artificially low makes sense?

The U.S. is becoming a backward country. Nearly every other industrialized nation in the world has a better transit system. Trains are safe, efficient and comfortable. We need to invest in upgrading them. We have a lot of catching up to do.

Gary Maxwell, Lynnwood