Japan is building a maglev line right now. But they have >60 years of experience with high speed rail and the whole concept is established. Even then its “only” about to be 400km to connect three major metropolian areas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chūō_Shinkansen
Still:
Construction is expected to cost over ¥9 trillion Japanese yen (approximately $82 billion USD) and commenced in 2014. The start date of commercial service is unknown,[…]The Nagoya–Osaka section was planned to be completed as late as 2045, but the date was moved to as early as 2037 following a loan from the Japanese government.
Chicago to New York are more like 1200km and major stops between them are like Cleveland and Toledo. Uuuh… just build regular ass rail with a bit higher specs for higher speeds…
Yeah, and dont forget the scale.
Japan is building a maglev line right now. But they have >60 years of experience with high speed rail and the whole concept is established. Even then its “only” about to be 400km to connect three major metropolian areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chūō_Shinkansen Still:
Chicago to New York are more like 1200km and major stops between them are like Cleveland and Toledo. Uuuh… just build regular ass rail with a bit higher specs for higher speeds…
We’ve spent over half that on the Iran war so far.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/us/politics/iran-war-cost-pentagon.html