Cost of maintenance and use is much higher than a train line, though. The cost of maintenance per year for a four lane highway is something like $300,000 per mi

Cost of maintenance and use is much higher than a train line, though. The cost of maintenance per year for a four lane highway is something like $300,000 per mile, and repaving is $2,000,000 per mile. Meanwhile in Europe in a high speed rail line costs about €160,000 per kilometer, or $99,420 per mile. The distance between the proposed ends is 353 miles. So a highway along the same route per year would cost $105,900,000 to maintain. Meanwhile the rail line would cost $35,095,260 per year to maintain. And the road cost doesn't include the personal cost incurred to the user per year due to vehicle maintenance. So yes, the upfront cost of a high speed rail line will always be higher simply because of the type of infrastructure being built. But the running costs will be much lower, both to the state and to the individual users.