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I understand you'd have to lay new track when you wanted to add HSR. The point is you have an existing network people can use to get to your HSR endpoints.

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Laying the track isn't the hard part. The hard parts are securing right-of-way; eliminating grades, curves, and level crossings; and keeping the track-way secure from people, livestock, wildlife, and adverse weather.

Right... which is what I meant by "laying the track". If it was just a question of putting down rails it wouldn't be very expensive.

Not for plain old steel-on-ties rails, no. It's far easier to upgrade the rails than the right-of-way.

You might as well bury dark fiber somewhere in there, no matter what else you do. Use one strand for signaling, and lease the rest to backhauler telecoms.

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