> However it cannot be ignored that it is not just the cost to build that is important but maintenance will be in the billions. The same argument can be said a

> However it cannot be ignored that it is not just the cost to build that is important but maintenance will be in the billions. The same argument can be said about roads and ports and airports. Yes, infrastructure requires maintenance. So what? > With regards to nations who truly have a lot of established high speed rail, while the average Japanese traveler will have nearly two thousand miles of rail travel only about twenty percent is across high speed rail. I fail to see the relevance of that statement. Yes, nations that have a long railway history still haven't replaced some lines with high-speed lines. So what? Meanwhile, there are plenty of developed nations that have high-speed railway lines even in old suburban corridors. Yes, people do commute in TGVs every single day. Is that because they are fancy or whimsical? No, because technology has evolved in the past half century so that it's trivial to build a train capable of travelling at over 220km/h and they live in geographically convenient areas where building high-speed lines doesn't involve building many tunnels and bridges.