| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 第9-10页 |
| ABSTRACT | 第10页 |
| 摘要 | 第11-14页 |
| CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION | 第14-19页 |
| 1.1 Research Background | 第15-16页 |
| 1.2 Significance of the Research | 第16页 |
| 1.3 Methodology | 第16-17页 |
| 1.4 Structure of the Thesis | 第17-19页 |
| CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW | 第19-24页 |
| 2.1 Previous Studies Abroad | 第19-21页 |
| 2.2 Previous Studies at Home | 第21-24页 |
| CHAPTER III HISTORY OF AMERICAN RAILWAY SYSTEM | 第24-32页 |
| 3.1 Interaction between Human Activities and Transportation System | 第24-25页 |
| 3.2 Great Contribution of Railway System to the Formation and Development of the USA | 第25-29页 |
| 3.3 Decline of Railway System in the United States after Aviation Age | 第29-32页 |
| CHAPTER IV GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS OF HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY SYSTEM | 第32-38页 |
| 4.1 New Evolution in Railway System and Its Impacts around the World | 第32-35页 |
| 4.1.1 High-speed Railway System in Japan and Europe | 第32-33页 |
| 4.1.2 High-speed Railway System in China | 第33-35页 |
| 4.2 Current Status of High-speed Railway System in the USA | 第35-38页 |
| CHAPTER V IMPEDIMENTS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY SYSTEM | 第38-54页 |
| 5.1 Competing Modes of Transportation | 第38-44页 |
| 5.1.1 The Interstate System | 第38-40页 |
| 5.1.2 Civil Aviation | 第40-43页 |
| 5.1.3 The Existing Conventional Railway Network | 第43-44页 |
| 5.2 Political Convention and Institution | 第44-49页 |
| 5.3 Post-industrial Social Features in the United States | 第49-54页 |
| 5.3.1 General Characteristics of a Post-industrial Society | 第49-50页 |
| 5.3.2 Post-industrial Social Impact upon High-speed Railway Project | 第50-54页 |
| CHAPTER VI PROSPECTS OF AMERICAN HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY SYSTEM | 第54-68页 |
| 6.1 Certainty and Necessity | 第54-58页 |
| 6.2 Expansion of Regional High-speed Railway Network | 第58-66页 |
| 6.2.1 Possible Expansion of Network in the East Coast | 第58-62页 |
| 6.2.2 Possible Expansion of Network in the West Coast | 第62-64页 |
| 6.2.3 Additional Supportive Stuff | 第64-66页 |
| 6.3 Formation of Transcontinental High-speed Railway Network | 第66-68页 |
| CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION | 第68-71页 |
| 7.1 Summary | 第68-69页 |
| 7.2 Limitations | 第69-71页 |
| WORKS CITED | 第71-75页 |
