Would high speed rail ever work in the US?

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crash. Now the majority are because of idiot drivers.

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This is a real issue.
Outside of a few areas in the northeast, unless some major constructions of new raised rails were built, I don't think it will every be a great option.
It's very much a cost prohibitive.

Will it? No.

Could it, possibly. Would need to be between major centers within 2-3hrs of each other.

No massive public works will happen in the USA again with the current regulatory environments and costs of everything.

We priced ourselves out of massive public works for transportation purposes.

Won’t work in this country for a variety of reasons.


Single biggest one is that our geography is not friendly to it given how dispersed population is outside of the Atlantic seaboard, mainly from DC to Boston.

If you are in that area, rail can work because you have short hops to other big cities on dedicated lines.


Trying to do rail in Louisiana? You are running on lines owned by Kansas City Southern and other entities and all the big cities are far apart, so you could almost walk from NOLA to BR in the time it takes to get a train from there since you have to pull to the side of a KCS train needs the line.


On top of that, the actual topography is not necessarily condusive to a lot of these tracks.

You have to have straightaways on either even land or very low grades of steepness.

When you start hitting hills and mountains, you have to curve around them to as flat of land as possible or tunnel through them, neither of which helps your speed.

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No. It's too expensive to build now. Liken this to creating a new interstate system.

Regulation burdens, pay offs, graft, insurance, etc.

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Exactly.

Massive public works projects are largely things of the past.

Depends on if politicians can figure out how to line their pockets from it.

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you could almost walk from NOLA to BR in the time it takes to get a train from there since you have to pull to the side of a KCS train needs the line.

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I read or heard somewhere that Passenger Trains have priority over any one else using the lines despite who owns the lines.

Also, the number of stops planned to hopefully get the line profitable also slow down the trains.

So a line between downtown Baton Rouge and New Orleans may have stops in St. George, Gonzales, Laplace, Kenner, and Metairie.

All those stops with current trains would limit your overall speed. The only places the train could reach cruising speed if the track is clear is between Gonzales and Laplace and Laplace and Kenner.

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Would need to be between major centers within 2-3hrs of each other.

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I would think a dedicated high speed line from Houston to Dallas might happen one day if the federal government could get out the way and let some kind of private partnership handle it.

It would take an Elon Musk type personality to get it done. But it’s possible.