Well, you up the voltage and go AC, losses then become manageable. The move from 1.5KV DC to 25KV AC in Europe was about that exactly (many caveats apply, but

Well, you up the voltage and go AC, losses then become manageable. The move from 1.5KV DC to 25KV AC in Europe was about that exactly (many caveats apply, but it's basically that, a solved problem). If it's a somewhat loaded segment, someone would be there to consume the regenerated power. If it's not loaded then yes, no point in electrifying it to begin with.