National High Speed Rail Plan

Finally a plan that incorporates Houston to Dallas and the Gulf Coast. This one looks more practical than the others.

http://solveclimatenews.com/news/20101117/national-high-speed-rail-plan-unveiled-despite-political-roadblocks

http://www.ushsr.com/

http://www.ushsr.com/phasingplan.html

Ok I keep looking at this map and.......

Just looking at this you have to wonder who dreams this stuff up. The fine BNSF transcon is only shown as far as Wichita Kansas and only as 110mph. So no chicago to KC high speed trains. Then they show Denver to SLC as high speed.....through the rockies???? It would be just one long tunnel. lol. The Sunset route west of San Antonio looses out until you get to Tucson. But Albuquerque to Phoenix. Completely new alignment. SLC straight through to Seattle. OMG. And it looks like they want to bore through the Sierras to San Francisco.

This is just a far off dream for most of this plan. Only a tiny fraction of this will ever be built to true high speed standards. I would say the green lines have the best chance. The rest is just fantasy land. What do you think? I mean they are saying 2030. I would think it's more like 2130. Really this is just a scheme to fund the NEC and California.

Unfortunately I have to agree. Just in my own state, Arizona, I'm familiar with the terrain between Phoenix and Vegas. It's very rough. A 220mph line would require a huge amount earthmoving and tunneling, not to mention the new bridge over the Colorado River. The 4-lane highway bridge that just opened cost $240 million and took 9 years from start of design to finish.

Phoenix to San Diego? 220mph through Carrizo Gorge? I don't think so. A high speed link either along I-10 or via the existing Sunset route through Yuma might be possible.

I notice it has the 3C corridor being built by 2020. Obviously not practical at all-- you'd have to spend trillions to get that running, and I doubt that some of it is physically possible. 220mph between HAR and PGH? Not until 2050...