I tried to make it fairly realistic. Obviously I would like HSR absolutely everywhere, but a line through middle of nowhere Montana probably would not see much ridership and would come at extreme cost (especially in the mountains).

    • VoxAdActa@kbin.social
      2·
      1 year ago

      For high-speed rail? Basically, yes. Unless you’re into spending a couple million bucks per mile to rip out big chunks of the mountain. High speed rail can’t reasonably navigate tight turns or steep grades.

      • chansonnier@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I’m inclined to believe you, and have to say I love to see discussion like this here on lemmy’s version of fuckcars, but curious, does anyone know what switzerland does? Afaik, they have tons of rail and tons of mountains. Is it all/mostly low-speed? Sorry if it’s a dumb question or easy to answer.

        • Fried_out_Kombi@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Yes, it’s low-speed. There are only a handful of HSR lines crossing the Alps, afaik, but they’re generally huge, expensive projects that basically tunnel through many kilometers. For example, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is a 57-km tunnel through the Swiss Alps, but its feasible because it’s connecting large population centers with large existing HSR networks on both sides.