'Somebody had to go first and deal with the learning curve for HSR,' the California HSR failure apologists bleat

Yes, and that somebody was JNR in 1964

Run more buses and trains *raises hand* Or probably ATSF in the '30s, kinda. Track geometry is track geometry eternal.

Commissar Geo Bartlette (31st Harakoni Warhawks) Run more buses and trains Not really. High powered EMUs essentially rewrite the acceptable trade offs for heavily preferring vertical curves for horizontal curves.