While there is still no guarantee that a nationwide high-speed rail system in the United States will be fully built, a new map has surfaced that showcases where the 220 MPH rail system would likely travel.
Conceptualized by artist and activist Alfred Twu , the system would span from East to West coast, hitting some of the countries most popular cities including Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Dallas, and others. The system would also expand from North to South reaching Minneapolis/St. Paul and Miami, Florida.
Twu started to build out his conceptualized map in 2009 after President Obama announced plans for the high-speed rail system.
While the high-speed rail system is just a conceptualized map at this time, Twu used information provided from various studies to provide an educated guess as to where the rail would likely travel.
Twu admits to Mashable :
“Some artistic license was applied to make it more elegant and have it be a series of distinct lines like a subway map . Colors were selected to convey the idea of the U.S. being made up of several interwoven regional cultures that come together at major cities — like an internal melting pot.”
Asked when he believes the high-speed rail system would go live, Twu gives an estimated date sometime between 2030 and 2050.
The cost of a nationwide high-speed rail system is estimated between $25 billion to $50 billion. Twu notes that such a high cost isn’t feasible all at once in a bad economy but could work out if designed and implemented over 30 to 40 years.
If you want a closer look, you can view or download the full map via .PDF file .
