"In a thread 3 years ago, I made a list of the top US cities by GDP, and then broke out the crow-flies ground distances between them" I agree with this sentime

"In a thread 3 years ago, I made a list of the top US cities by GDP, and then broke out the crow-flies ground distances between them" I agree with this sentiment. However, I don't think that connecting large cities together is the most interesting thing we can do with rail ... rather, we can find corridors of opportunity that open up a lot of movement and economic activity that is hindered by being just a bit too far to commute ... For instance: Duluth->MPLS->DesMoines->KCMO For instance: Cheyenne->FtCollins->Denver->CoSprings->Pueblo[1] In each of those instances there is only one large metro area but there are "junior" areas that could benefit greatly by gaining the ability to commute ... You really can't commute from Duluth (where people need jobs) to Minneapolis (where jobs are) ... or from Pueblo to Denver ... but things change if it's just a 40 minute train ride away ... [1] With the admission that Denver->CoSprings is logistically difficult due to elevation change on the route ...