A National High-Speed Rail Network

The map’s purpose is to show what the future can look like for America with a national high-speed rail network. It visualizes a 21st century, 17,000-mile national high-speed rail system built in four phases. This map represents USHSR's ultimate vision for a national high-speed rail network. We believe this can be accomplished within a generation, or roughly 30 years, once building high-speed rail becomes a bipartisan national priority. For instance, the original, 41,000 mile plan for the Interstate Highway System - a significantly much larger project in terms of its land use and infrastructure footprint - was completed in forty years. Please see our phased buildout map to see all four phases of the map.

This new national system will revitalize our economy, reactivate our manufacturing sector, create millions of jobs, reduce America's foreign oil dependency, curb airport and highway congestion, create access to vast areas of affordable housing, and significantly cut our carbon footprint. Powered by electricity, this system provides sustainable, affordable, safe mobility for all.

For high-speed rail lines that are actually in development today, we use the projected travel times, which don't always line up exactly with our formula, due to the unique characteristics of each of these lines.

The interstate highway system, which now stands at 47,000 miles total, is seamlessly connected into a much larger network of state-owned routes that provide the broader regional connections into the interstate system. There are over 300,000 miles of state-owned routes and highways today. These state routes seamlessly connect regions into the interstate highway network while allowing for driving at a wider range of speeds and intersections, unlike the interstates.

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Similarly, we assume the need for a similar hierarchy in America's future passenger rail network. High-speed rail lines designed to allow for speeds of 186 mph will play the role of the interstate highways while an even more extensive network designed for speeds of 125 mph will connect regions across the country directly into the high-speed network, ensuring that at least 90% of Americans will have easy access to high-speed rail.

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While this map shows the current Amtrak network in the background, it does not remotely convey the scale and vast coverage of the total passenger rail network we envision.