Very Small Array: National Rail Line

BOULDER, Colorado -- The folks over at Very Small Array have made a map of America's passenger rail network, and added an intriguing component - what if the network were run completely with high-speed trains?

This map shows the travel time between cities traveling by train at 240 km/hour (roughly 149 mph). The distances are estimated, as they are based on Google Maps driving distances rather than the actual rail routes. As you can see in the comments, there might be some discrepancies in distances and times recorded here, but it is still nice to dream, isn't it?


This map illustrates, however, that an important problem remains - the network of rail lines available for passenger traffic, whether on high-speed or conventional trains, remains woefully inadequate.