(By Jason Simpkins) Railroad companies have been some the best performers in the recent rally of U.S. equities.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI) CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX), and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI) - a favorite of Warren Buffett - are all up a about 30% since early March.

And even though the current rally is beginning to lose some steam, there are still plenty of reasons to like railroads over the long haul. They’re clean, efficient, and their development is a fixture of President Barack Obama’s economic, political, and social agendas.

Obama Fast Tracks Railroad Investment

President Obama envisions high-speed rail as a big part of the United States economic recovery, as well as the country’s societal progression.

Earlier this year, Obama outlined his plan to devote at least $13 billion to developing high-speed rail over the next five years.

“Railroads were always the pride of America, and stitched us together. Now Japan, China, all of Europe have high-speed rail systems that put ours to shame,” Obama said.

While most passenger trains in the United States travel at the maximum allowable speed of 79mph, trains in Europe and Asia typically travel in excess of 125mph. In France, for example, the Train Ga Grande Vitesse (TGV) travels at an average speed of 133 mph. Another French train actually reached 357.2mph in 2007, setting a new world record, The Associated Press reported.

Japan, which opened its first high-speed rail in the 1960s, transports more passengers than any other rail system on earth, and its Shinkansen trains travel at an average speed of 180mph. And Germany, Spain and China all of have trains capable of traveling as fast as 140mph.

There are 10 “potential” 100-600 mile corridors in the United States that could be carrying similar high-speed trains sometime in the not-so-distant future, according to a fact sheet released by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Developing a high-speed rail system, “similar to how interstate highways and the U.S.