We’re not short on engineers.
We’re not short on money.
We are short on imagination.
For decades, the United States has talked about high-speed rail as if it’s an exotic experiment. Something for the coasts. Or maybe someday. But what if we stopped thinking of HSR as a fantasy—and started drawing the map?
Because once you do, something remarkable happens:
It makes sense.
Think Like a System
We don’t need a single coast-to-coast bullet train.
We need a connected network of regional HSR corridors, each linking dense urban hubs with growing mid-sized cities. The goal isn’t to replace planes for 2,000-mile trips—it’s to make 150–500-mile trips faster, cheaper, and cleaner by train.
These are the trips Americans take every day:
For work. For weddings. For college tours. For client meetings.
And right now, we drive. Or we fly. Or we skip it altogether.
With high-speed rail, we can transform these trips from chores into choices.
The Big Corridors: A National Overview
Here’s what a rational, achievable U.S. HSR system could look like:
🔹 Northeast Corridor 2.0
Boston – New York – Philadelphia – DC – Richmond
Upgrade Amtrak’s existing line to full 220+ mph standard
Add express bypasses and new tunnels to unlock true speed
Potential: 60+ million riders annually
🔹 Midwest Supergrid
Chicago as the hub, radiating to:
Milwaukee – Minneapolis
Detroit – Cleveland – Pittsburgh
St. Louis – Kansas City
Indianapolis – Cincinnati – Columbus
Elevates Rust Belt connectivity, revitalizes lagging cities
🔹 Texas Triangle
Dallas – Austin – San Antonio – Houston
Flat, buildable, rapidly growing—perfect for true HSR
Could move 16–20 million annual passengers from short flights and highways
🔹 California Spine
San Diego – Los Angeles – Bakersfield – Fresno – San Jose – San Francisco – Sacramento
California HSR has laid the groundwork. Finish the job—and go all the way north and south.
🔹 Florida Corridor
Miami – Fort Lauderdale – West Palm – Orlando – Tampa – Jacksonville
Brightline proves demand. Now build it right—with grade separation, true speed, and safety.
🔹 Southeast Link
Atlanta – Charlotte – Raleigh – Richmond – DC
Fast, green alternative to the I‑85 corridor and short-haul flights
Could reshape economic integration across the region
🔹 Mountain Connector
Denver – Colorado Springs – Albuquerque – Salt Lake City
Tunnels and elevation challenges, but high demand from inter-mountain hubs
🔹 Pacific Northwest
Portland – Seattle – Vancouver
Already studied. High potential ridership. Electrification-ready.
A Network of Networks
Each corridor stands on its own. But together, they form a national rail web:
Local metros feed into regional HSR stations
Inter-corridor connections allow coast-to-coast rail with transfers
Airlines shift focus to longer hauls; HSR captures the short- and mid-range
A new generation of multimodal mobility takes shape: rail + microtransit + carshare
This isn’t fiction.
It’s what other countries already have.
We’re not inventing something new—we’re importing a model that works.
Benefits That Travel Faster Than the Trains
Economic Development: Mid-sized cities gain new relevance when connected to major markets.
Housing Affordability: People can live farther from job centers without adding to congestion.
Climate Impact: Rail emits 70% less CO₂ per passenger mile than car travel, and 85% less than flying.
Social Equity: HSR reduces dependence on car ownership, opening access to opportunity.
And perhaps most importantly: It gives people their time back.
✳️ Start with Vision. Then Build.
We’ve drawn maps like this before:
The Interstates. The TVA. The space program.
We just stopped believing we could do it again.
But the blueprint is already here.
In every commute that’s too long.
In every flight that’s more delay than travel.
In every car that burns gas in a traffic jam.
If we want a different future, we have to draw it.
And then we have to build it.
Footnote: This series is just the beginning. Soon, I’ll share a follow-on vision in my next series: Beyond the Tracks: Designing the America High-Speed Rail Makes Possible — a look at how high-speed rail could reshape our cities, repurpose airports, and reconnect the overlooked heart of America.