Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuckerman
The high speed developments in Europe, especially Germany and France, are feasible because of four critical reasons: 1. the geographic closeness of major cities; 2. the density of residents (passengers) near central city train stations; 3. well developed commuter and suburban train networks linking to central stations; and 4. heavy political and government support for railroad infrastructure. These factors are vey different in the US.
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In most of the US, sure. But the Northeast has the required density, major city proximity, urban stations, existing transit infrastructure, and political support (mostly). As evidenced by the fact that we already have high speed rail in this corridor.
For Atlanta, it's a viable candidate for HSR to close destinations. For example, Atlanta and Charlotte could fit many of these requirements, since both have dense downtowns connected to local rail systems, and the distance between the cities is perfect. The political will and funding is the issue here.