I'm not really surprised by this...
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technocracy/2011/12/high_speed_rail_is_dead_in_america_should_we_mourn_it_.html
To be honest, I never thought high-speed rail ever had a chance in this country. It's far too much of a First World kind of conveyance for our country to seriously consider it, particularly as we slide into post-imperial Second World status (and, sorry, but that's where we're heading, folks).
The kind of capital expenditure and infrastructure awareness high-speed rail requires doesn't fly in the land of car culture -- Americans like cars, like sprawl, like highways (hell, I like cars, too, although I recognize that a proper rail network would strengthen our country, not weaken it).
Only when gasoline is about $10/gallon will Americans begin (and I stress "begin") to wonder if alternatives are desirable. And even then, the politicians are likelier to offer non-solutions like hydrogen fuel cells or some other meta-contrivance to something like a rail service, let alone a high-speed rail service.
This article is also illustrative:
Why Conservatives Hate Trains
So long as our government panders to reactionary crybabies, nutballs, flat-earthers and whiners (mislabeled "conservatives" in our Gliberal Media), we'll continue to fail to see progress in things like rail. Frankly, it should be confined to blue states, rather than trotted out across the entire country. Let those who get it, get it (although maybe, even in blue states, people don't get it). I dunno.
