And the reason why the rail cost from central Jersey to DC is so high, is that NY to Washington is the only route where Amtrak (with existing technology) is a s

And the reason why the rail cost from central Jersey to DC is so high, is that NY to Washington is the only route where Amtrak (with existing technology) is a serious competitor to air travel. While the time in the air between NY and DC is 35 minutes, the hassle of arriving at the airport early for check-in, actually getting to LGA, JFK or Newark and getting from Dulles, BWI or National to your location, make traveling by rail (Acela 2 hours 45 minutes) a real competitor. The argument, I suppose, is that high speed rail could increase this competitiveness to other cities outside the northeast corridor.