[hedora]

Think that's bad? Drive on the 40 (route 66) from California to Texas sometime. All those abandoned train stations used to be Amtrak stops. Modern passenger trains could hit about 200 mph on that terrain. San Jose to Dallas is about 1400 miles, so a 8-9 hour trip would be enough to ride the entire line, with stops at the towns along the way.

I'd definitely choose that instead over a 3.5 hour plane ride (good for that route), especially with sleeper cars.

On top of that, there are abandoned train stations closer to my actual destination than the nearest airport. With drive time on the Texas side, the train would actually be faster, door to door.

[dylan604]

I used to make the trek from Dallas to LA a few times a year. I have tried flying, I have tried driving, but I've never taken the train. Travelling solo, the flying can have you in the other city within a few hours. Driving solo takes about 24 hours. Booking a train shows arrival in 48 hours. Just not even in a realistic time frame.

[ghaff]

Last time I had a trip from Boston to Chicago, I briefly look a look at the train. It would have been a long overnight trip and cost about 3x the plane if I got a sleeping compartment. Just made no sense.

Although I've done it, even doing the whole Northeast Corridor is a stretch. DC is a pretty short flight from Boston whereas it's a full day by train.

[coredog64]

Which parts are they going to hit 200mph on? I have driven extensively on 8, 10, and 40 into and out of California, and I can't recall a path that doesn't transit the North American Cordillera: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Cordillera

On 8 heading out of San Diego, you go from sea level to 4000 feet, down to (IIRC) 3000, and then back up to 4000 before going back down to sea level. Once over the Arizona border, you pretty quickly go from sea level up to about 2000 feet.

40 goes through Flagstaff, the elevation of which is almost 7000 feet. Albuquerque is at 5000 feet.

So, where in the world do you find HSR that transits not one, but three or four 4000 foot passes?

[jhgb]

Gotthard Base Tunnel is rated for 140 mph, not quite 200 mph but close. It has a maximum depth of 8000 feet. Would something like this qualify for the route across the mountains? Optimal train path would probably be somewhat different from the current road network anyway, so road examples provide only approximate information about railway network construction difficulty.