HSR folks are their own worst enemy. This idea of passenger HSR "competing" with airlines is just ludicrous. In terms of initial capital investment, an HSR system probably cost 10 times what it would cost to build new airports in the two end point cities, and even the fastest HSR systems in the world are still slower than the slowest puddle jumpers.

Hmmmmmmm.....meanwhile we have these capital intensive freight rail systems that do cover their cost of capital, more or less. How do they do it? It's called "freight". Moving freight produces profit, unlike moving people. If someone in the HSR cult would just wake up and realize that there are freight people out there who would take advantage of a surface transportation system that could move stuff dock to dock faster than highways.......

Remember - anything can move over a freight predicated HSR system, whether it is technically time sensitive or not. So you design the HSR around moving primarily UPS/FedEx type stuff, add in other time sensitive stuff like fresh produce, critical tech components, TOFC, etc. And you know what? You can then add people to that mix as well as non-time sensitive freight!

A HSR freight system is the ultimate niche transportation system. It can move anything and everything. It's faster than highways, it can carry more tonnage than airways. Think about it.