I'm all for chasing ambitious goals, but America should probably demonstrate some modest capabilities in building and running high speed passenger trains before it disrupts that game. While Americans (and Dubai) chase this hyperloop boondoggle, Japan is rolling out 300kph+ trains from stern (Kyushu) to tip (Hokkaido) in the most inhospitable and earthquake-prone region in the world, with insane population densities in some places, across relatively vast waterways, and with almost zero delays in operating timetables.
Should America also have upgraded the mail system before telegraph lines were deployed? Should America have also made faster trains before building the interstate system?
Innovation and disruption are better than just incremental improvements to make some existing technology fit your bill.
Are you really arguing that 300km per hour trains that run on time and safely are equivalent to "telegraphs" while American passenger trains routinely fail to follow any schedule at all and have a bad habit of killing people? Not to mention that they don't serve large swaths of the country, including areas that need them
most.
