> AmeriStarRail, a startup specializing in high-speed and intermodal passenger rail, pitched a partnership with Amtrak to launch the "Transcontinental Chief," a high-speed rail route that would run between Los Angeles and New York in under 72 hours.
Google Maps says it's a bit over 2,500 miles between LA and NYC. (As the crow flies, but the article's map isn't too far off.)
An argument from the lesser to the greater seems to apply here.
> AmeriStarRail, a startup specializing in high-speed and intermodal passenger rail, pitched a partnership with Amtrak to launch the "Transcontinental Chief," a high-speed rail route that would run between Los Angeles and New York in under 72 hours.
Google Maps says it's a bit over 2,500 miles between LA and NYC. (As the crow flies, but the article's map isn't too far off.)
And 2,500 miles / 72 hours is ~35 MPH.
Not exactly "High-Speed Rail", in my book.
You forgot to factor in the 50,000 stops along the way. The essence of hurry-up and wait.