Here is what my hope for an initial East Coast High-speed Rail Network would look like
Routings would obviously be changed is this were real, this is just the hope
The Red Line hits Chicago, Gary, South Bend, Toledo, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Poughkeepsie, and NYC with Branches Hitting Detroit alongside Hamilton, Mississauga, and Toronto
The Blue Line connects Philadelphia, Allentown, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Akron, and Cleveland
Yellow Line South Connects Richmond, DC, Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia, Trenton, Newark, and NYC
While the North Connects Hartford, Providence and Boston
Both would primarily use upgraded Acela ROW
And Dark Blue connects Detroit, London, Mississauga, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City
I have extended the North Yellow Line to hit Salem, Portsmouth, and Portland Maine
Why does yellow not connect? If this is wish fulfillment, so Connecticut is not an issue, shouldn't the BosWash corridor be connected?
I was trying to decide whether to connect it in Poughkeepsie or Southwest Connecticut but I have decided to do Connecticut
montreal boston and montreal new york are just 5-6 hours driving its efficient to have a branch there
Added a Branch to the Yellow Line that hits Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Albany, Saratoga Springs, Burlington and Montreal* this line would probably be in a phase 2 of the project but it's still a good line
Routing Chicago-NYC through upstate NY is a really inefficient way to do it tbh. I was bored on watch a few weeks ago and worked out the math for different route alignments, and it would add over 50% to the total route length from NYC to Chicago versus routing it through Philly. Even trips to Boston would only be increased by 8% taking a detour down to Philly before heading west.
I propose the entirety of the main East/West trunk be rerouted through Pennsylvania to Philly, then the section from Cleveland to Albany be connected to the section from Albany to Boston as one new line/Branch. Then the North/South line along the Hudson River to Montreal can connect Montreal to NYC directly, with the comparatively fewer Bostonians just having a transfer in Albany.
So the system would work but the main line should be a mix of the light blue and Red Lines as I have highlighted in Pink here, with the rest of the red line made into the line I have Highlighted in Orange?
Fireproof trains
