If We Built It Today (2019–…): Season 2, Episode 5 - Secrets of the Transcontinental - full transcript
[narrator] The transcontinental railroad,
one of America's greatest
engineering achievements.
The transcontinental railroad
was a very pivotal point in history.
Putting America at the center of the world.
[narrator] And while it's construction
was a mammoth undertaking,
it's impact on the country
was equally as profound.
[Hugie] Completion of the railroad
made us truly the United States.
[narrator] But with today's technology,
is the golden age of train
travel grinding to a halt?
[Lewis] The way to get from
the east coast to the west coast
is always going to be on an airplane.
Why would you go through the inconvenience
of taking a train...
[narrator] So, what if we built a
brand new transcontinental railroad,
that connects the
country like never before.
Some of these trains have been
tested at upwards of 300 miles an hour,
approaching jet speed on the ground.
You can have much longer trains.
You can deal with much
higher weight of the trains.
As soon as you provide it,
you're going to see people
flock by the millions to ride these.
[narrator] What have we learnt
since the railroad was originally built?
We're going to see if we can do it better
using the toughest equipment,
modern engineering and an unlimited budget.
Everybody likes the idea of
these big infrastructure projects until
it might come through their backyard.
[narrator] Imagine,
the world's greatest wonders reimagined.
We're wondering,
how long would it take?
How much would it cost?
How many workers would we need?
Could we even do it?
If we built it today.
[train horn blowing]
[narrator] Promontory Summit, Utah.
Today, it's the remote site
of Golden Spike National Historical Park,
the location of the historic completion
of the first transcontinental railroad.
And, back in 1869, there was no greater
technological achievement
in the United States.
Transcontinental railroad was an incredible
technological feat for its time.
It was something gigantic.
It was something man-made.
It was something powerful.
[narrator] The building of
the transcontinental railroad
was set up in terms of
competition between two companies.
In 1863, the Central
Pacific Railroad Company,
began laying track Eastward
from Sacramento, California.
While a second company,
the Union Pacific Railroad
started building Westward
from Omaha, Nebraska.
By Spring, 1869, the two railroads met
in Promontory Summit, Utah.
690 miles to the West,
Sacramento, California.
And 1,086 miles to the East,
Omaha, Nebraska.
On May 10th 1869, we had
around a thousand people here,
gathered for one of the most significant
achievements in our nation's history.
The golden spike, the last spike needed
to complete the transcontinental railroad
was placed within six inches of this spot.
[narrator] The driving of the golden spike
ushered in an exciting new era of
national progress and expansion.
When the train connection
finally opened up,
that enabled people to do in a
few days, what used to take months.
[narrator] With the
completion of the track,
the travel time for making
the 3,000 mile journey,
was cut from a matter of
months to just seven days.
Suddenly, people began to migrate West,
like never before.
It's just really changed
the idea of land-based travel
in a way that humans had never seen before.
[narrator] There's no question that
the transcontinental railroad facilitated
Westward expansion,
but this symbol of human achievement
also revealed the dark side of history too.
In the 19th century,
as the United States transformed
into an industrial society,
with little business regulations,
a small number of men
referred to as "Robber Barons",
dominated crucial industries.
In particular, the railroad industry.
[Lewis] A lot of the
transcontinental railroad was built
using labor that was often exploited.
And a lot of immigrant labor
that came over to build it.
It was also built on Native lands
that was taken from them.
So, there's a lot of caveats to it.
And then environmentally, it led to
a lot of natural resource exploitation.
[narrator] Once the public
became aware of their dealings,
the robber barons were exposed.
And soon, the age of
unregulated business ended.
By 1890, railroad lines covered
nearly every corner of the United States.
And by 1916, 98% of intercity travel
was done on the rails.
Transcontinental railroad
connected everybody and everything.
And it can take you, it seemed, anywhere.
[narrator] But fast forward 150 years,
and trains are no longer fast enough.
Right now, we are super connected.
Right, you can get on
a plane in the east coast
and be on the west coast a
few hours later and vice versa.
[narrator] So, how would we build our new
high-speed transcontinental railroad today
to fit a modern population?
Turns out,
we're not the first ones
to consider the concept.
Japan, 1964.
After decades of post-war rebuilding
the first "Shinkansen" or bullet train,
hits the rails between the
country's two busiest cities,
Tokyo and Osaka.
And cuts the travel time
of traditional rail in half.
The bullet train used the
technology known simply as
standard high speed rail.
And it started a new era of super-fast
and super safe trains.
Japan has carried something like nine
billion passengers without one single death.
[narrator] Today, Japan has a
network of nine high-speed rail lines,
servicing 22 of its major cities
stretching across its three main islands.
It's the busiest high-speed
rail service in the world.
And they're not the only country
making high-speed rail travel a reality.
London to Paris to Brussels.
High speed rail has proven
to be very popular in Europe.
[narrator] Following its first service
between Paris and Lyon in 1981,
France's high-speed rail network
now provides connections to
almost every major city across France.
Today, the high-speed line
has moved beyond Paris,
offering service to destinations
in neighboring countries.
But, by far the longest
high-speed rail network
is located in China.
Today, China has laid down over
22,000 miles of high-speed track
over the last decade.
And by 2035, that number could double.
The high-speed rail
revolution is in high gear.
And according to Andy Kunz,
it's time for the US to get on board.
I've literally devoted my life to this
because of how important
this is for our future
and for all of our citizens
to have a better way to get around.
[narrator] While the US has struggled
to make high-speed rail a reality,
in 2008, California kicked
off the nation's largest
and most ambitious infrastructure project.
The plan proposed to
lay down 520 miles of track
between San Francisco and Los Angeles,
but after more than a decade of
construction and financial delays,
the project has hit a wall.
When it comes to speed,
some experts question what the future holds
for the US rail industry.
Many existing lines are
actually getting slower.
A lot of passenger rail
routes are not as fast today
as they were 50 or 60 years ago.
In many parts of this country,
high-speed rail makes
zero sense on any level.
The distance is simply too far,
where no ground transportation technology
will significantly compete with air travel.
[narrator] But as the demand for
faster and safer travel increases,
what if we could bring
the US back on track?
How can you say it's not gonna work
when you look all over the world
and 20 nations have it and
it's working great everyday.
[narrator] A modern
transcontinental railroad,
equipped with the latest technology
and the world's fastest trains,
could open the doors to the next
generation of rail travel across the US.
But where are we going to build it?
What materials are we
going to build it out of?
How long will it take?
And how much would it cost
if we built it today?
[narrator] One of the
greatest technological
advancements of the 19th century
was the completion of the
first transcontinental railroad
across the United States.
And now, we're curious.
Could we outdo the original?
Today most people who
travel by rail are commuters.
But back in 1869,
travelling long distances by train
was considered revolutionary.
A trip West, that once took 35 days,
now took under ten.
California up until that time,
a lot of people referred to
it as almost like an island,
because the only way you could
get to California was by boat.
[narrator] Those with money
could buy a ticket and sail West,
around the remote tip of South America
through some of the most
treacherous waterways on the planet.
But the cheapest and most dangerous route
was by land via wagon train.
[Hugie] Between 1843 and 1866,
around a half million people
travel across the continent.
Of that half million people,
around 50,000 of those died.
Typhoid, fever, smallpox,
measles, dysentery,
all very real threats from the trail.
You also had high accidents rates,
with wagons moving heavy
oxen and mules around.
You also had a surprising number
of accidental gunshot wounds
from people who were very armed
to go out in the wilderness,
but maybe not the best trained.
[narrator] For more than
another half a century,
the railroads remained the biggest
and most dominant industry.
But fast forward to today,
and who would want to
take days to cross country,
when it can be done in hours by plane.
[Lewis] The way to get from the East coast
to the West coast is always
going to be on an airplane.
To use a pun, it took off in the 1950's
with the advent of the jet engine.
And that dramatically increased the range
that planes could fly, it
increased their speed.
And it just made it super practical.
[narrator] Or in the
comfort of your own car.
[Cervero] The car is
just a really magnificent
on-demand, door-to-door form of mobility
that it's hard for trains
today to effectively compete.
[narrator] Clearly, when
it comes to convenience,
planes and cars are the
most popular ways to travel.
But Andy Kunz is confident a faster train
can revive the industry.
The greatest benefit of high-speed rail is
the extreme high-capacity
mobility that it offers.
A single high-speed rail system
can literally move more people
than two airports combined.
They're never behind schedule.
And they're never congested
and backed up like our highways.
On the train, you can also work.
You can walk around, you
can use your phone, your laptop.
So it's productive time.
[narrator] For commuters, we can see
how taking a train make sense.
But long-distance travel
is a whole other ballgame.
From what we can gather,
the most important factor
for both types of travel
is time.
And experts believe, there's a sweet spot
where high-speed trains could win the race.
Too close to fly, too far
away to drive conveniently.
That's kind of a sweet spot for rail.
Traditionally, the sweet
spot has been about
up to 500 miles of travel.
[narrator] The train itself is not as fast,
but the door to door trip is.
You spend two more hours
getting to and from the airport.
Another hour sitting around for security.
And another hour waiting
for your plane to take-off.
You start adding up all those hours
and all the inconveniences,
high-speed rail really
make sense right now,
with trips up to a thousand miles.
[narrator] Today, about 500 million
train tickets are sold each year.
In Japan, it's nearly 25 billion.
High-speed rail must be offering
something the traveling public wants,
and that is key.
Because we can't railroad
the people into buying in.
So, let's imagine a brand new
high-speed transcontinental railroad
that's fast, efficient and expansive enough
to connect people traveling in the US
from coast to coast.
Now, it's time to lay out a plan.
Like, where can we lay our track
without making blood boil.
Everybody likes the idea of
these big infrastructure projects
until it might come to their backyard.
[narrator] How fast can we go?
So, if you're going to be taking a curve,
you need to make sure
that the folks on the train
don't end up on the window.
[narrator] What brand new state-of-the-art
materials will we use?
And, how would we build a railroad
through the country's biggest cities?
And of course, there is these...
You can't really wind around the mountains.
You need to go straight through them.
[narrator] Not to mention, how
many workers will we need?
How long will it take?
And how much will all of this cost?
[Lewis] A high-speed rail network that
would crisscross the rocky mountains
would be tremendously expensive.
[narrator] For this
project to be a success,
everything will rely on location.
A transcontinental
railroad has to extend from
one coast to another.
And if we follow the
lead of the robber barons,
we might end up with something like this.
But, would a single rail
line across the entire country
even make sense today?
No, I... It absolute does not...
Los Angeles to New
York, the two largest cities
are some 2,700 and
almost 3,000 miles apart.
So, I think air travel
is still much faster.
[Lewis] Our existing
infrastructure is already pretty good.
So, it would have to be
a really dramatic leap,
in order to make a substantial difference
in how this country is connected.
[narrator] Thanks to the plane,
even a faster train may never
compete for coast to coast rides.
But, if our goal is to
truly connect this country,
maybe we need an even bolder plan.
Well, I think eventually it will make
sense to connect coast to coast,
but this will need to be built in phases.
The idea was to build about
5,000 miles or so, per phase.
[narrator] Each of the four phases
in the US high-speed
rail authority master-plan
will link more and more
of the country together
until 17,000 miles
of brand new high-speed track are laid.
North, South, East and West.
Transcontinental, just
got a whole new meaning.
I do think high-speed rail network for the
United States as a whole does make sense.
We have enough cities that
are in that intermediate distance,
where you could essentially hopscotch
from city-to-city, to connect
in LA to the New York City.
It may not be the same passenger traveling
all that way,
but having all the cities in United
States linked by high-speed rail,
would provide a huge benefit
to people in this country.
[narrator] With our new
super-sized route chosen,
it's now full steam ahead.
But, first things first,
what kind of high-speed
train is best for our needs?
[Kunz] Imagine if you could
get DC to New York in one hour.
You're going to see people
flock by the millions to ride these.
[narrator] We're imagining building
a brand new transcontinental railroad
that will connect the
country like never before.
But, to loco-motivate travelers to
choose trains over cars and planes,
riding the rails has to
pick up a little more speed.
Certainly, more than what
trains of the past provided.
[Brown] It's a lot of hard work.
It's just always doing something.
There are lot of maintenance
to keep them running.
[narrator] When the first transcontinental
railroad was built in 1869,
the steam engine was
the fastest in the industry,
but top speed in those days
was only 78 miles per hour.
And even achieving that amount of power
wasn't easy.
That pile of coal will take you about
120 miles before you had to reload.
The water, you could go
about 30 miles on the water
before you have to refill.
[narrator] As coal burns
inside the locomotive's fire box,
water in a large tank
surrounding it heats up
and turns into steam.
When the engineer opens the throttle,
the steam fills the locomotive cylinders,
where it quickly expands
and pushes a piston,
which then drives the locomotives wheels.
Then came the diesel train,
which could travel at speeds
of up to 150 miles per hour.
But with today's technology,
could we do better than diesel?
The fuel of the future if we want
to be sustainable is electricity.
[narrator] The newest high-speed trains
run on renewable energy for power.
In comparison to diesel trains,
electric trains transfer about
95% of the energy to the wheels.
Whereas, diesel trains
transfer about 30% to 35%
of the combustion generated
energy to the wheels.
In Japan, they're pushing the
need for speed even further.
They're operating with trains
that are capable of reaching speeds
of up to 250 miles per hour.
First of all, it uses
magnets to levitate the train
to get the car unit off the track,
so there is virtually no resistance.
And then it uses magnets
to really propel the train,
horizontally over the guideway.
[narrator] "Maglev", as
this technology is called,
is about as close to magic as science gets.
And in April 2015,
this test train broke the land
speed world record for rail,
racing down the track at a jaw dropping
375 miles per hour.
So, what's the next generation
high-speed levitating train?
Well, from our POV,
the future of train travel
is all about hyper-speed
and one technology competing
for the title is Hyperloop.
[Josh] With Hyperloop, you
can go the speed of an aircraft
for roughly the same energy consumption
as a truck going about ten times slower.
[narrator] Josh Giegel is the
co-founder of Virgin Hyperloop,
one of the handful of
companies around the world,
bringing Elon musk's dream of
frictionless, ground-based travel to life.
Hyperloop is a new mode of transportation,
where are we are using
electromagnetic levitation
to lift up the vehicle
and to also propel the vehicle,
inside of a tube.
Not only does the enclosure make it safe,
but if it's going to be in a tube,
why not take most of the air out of it
so that you can go these
speeds with very little drag.
Theoretically, our propulsion system
could go thousands of miles an hour.
Practical speed is something on
the order of about 600 miles an hour.
[narrator] With hyper-speed and efficiency,
Hyperloop could be the
future of transportation.
But many still think, the
future is where it should stay.
Hyperloop isn't ready for primetime.
For all of the reasons that a
nationwide high-speed rail network
would be impractical,
Hyperloop is ten times
more impractical than that.
[Elkind] I would like to see
the technology deployed
but in the meantime, the
dangling promise of Hyperloop
should not be used as an excuse
not to deploy the infrastructure
that we know works.
[narrator] Our brand new
transcontinental railroad
also needs a plan we
can put into action today.
[Kunz] Right now off the shelf,
that's where standard
high-speed rail is available.
[narrator] Standard
high-speed rail is the technology
you see working around the world right now.
It's steel wheels riding on steel rails,
just like traditional trains.
But that's where the similarities end.
So high-speed rail is a
really advanced system.
They have a bar that
goes up that rides along
pulling the electricity
from the overhead wire.
And then, that's what propels the trains.
[narrator] This direct
link to the power grid
means the trains never have to refuel
or carry heavy batteries
like today's electric cars.
High-speed trains are super lightweight
and the most high-tech Italian machines,
use much smaller direct drive motors
fixed to the wheels in each car.
It's probably 20% more efficient that way
than with the power cars at each end.
[narrator] Okay, but what about speed?
[Kunz] The top speeds we
see in high-speed rail today
are about 220 to 230 miles an hour.
[narrator] It's not Hyperloop fast,
but a coast to coast
train trip in under 15 hours
would still be a revolution.
And those shorter sweet spot rides...
[Kunz] Imagine if you could get
DC to New York in one hour,
you are going to see people
flock by the millions to ride these.
[narrator] It seems like an all-electric
high-speed railroad is the way to go.
But before we can break ground,
there are still plenty
of factors to consider.
Like, what materials will we need?
And how will we build without disrupting
our country's beautiful
and natural landscape?
[narrator] We're imagining a brand new
transcontinental railroad across America.
An all-electric high-speed
train that'll connect the country
coast to coast.
And hit every major
urban center in between.
Now, it's time to talk materials.
You basically have to
build a new infrastructure
from the ground up for these systems.
[narrator] The infrastructure
for a project like this
includes all the overhead wires,
power systems, bridges
and the 17,000 miles of brand new track,
steel rails as far as the eye can see.
But the ultra-smooth rails
used by high speed trains today
are far superior to those of the past.
When you have 200 mile an
hour trains that are light weight,
you need super precision
welded steel rails.
So you don't have that
bump, bump, bump, bump,
like you would have on a normal train.
The problem with those
bumps is if they expand,
it could actually split and
then cause a train to derail.
[narrator] With high-speed rail,
there's also no wood in sight.
[Kunz] Almost all the ties
nowadays are concrete
and some of the high-speed systems
are actually going with slab track,
where they're not using ties at all.
It's actually a big chunk of concrete
that the rail is attached to.
[narrator] Concrete is rock solid.
And can last for thousands of years.
For proof, just look at
the Pantheon in Rome.
Concrete is an old technology,
but a great one,
especially when we need to build our track
over rivers or even roads.
[Lewis] In many parts of this country,
the railroad meets the
road and there's a crossing.
And so, when, when a
freight train is coming,
the rail gates go down,
the cars know to stop,
the train can go through
and then they go up.
Well, when a train is
moving at 180 miles an hour,
it's a lot more dangerous to
have that at-grade crossing.
[narrator] But, cars
aren't the only obstacle
our super speed trains need to avoid.
Our biggest hurdle yet will
require digging deep into the Earth
and our bank account.
[Elkind] Tunneling
recently in the United States,
has been a major driver of cost.
We burn through way too much cash
trying to tunnel, but it
is a really critical way
to deliver a much more
effective train system
if you can tunnel.
[narrator] Tunneling and
underground construction
has advanced light years
since the late 19th century.
The days of using gun powder
to blast tunnels out of rock are over.
These days, workers can
cover double the amount of area
in a shorter amount of time.
Thanks to these giant boring machines,
or TBMs.
Imagine a giant motorized cheese grater
boring a hole through a mountain of cheese.
That's kind of how this works.
As the cheese or rock
in this case is removed,
a built-in conveyor belt
instantly takes it above ground.
Meanwhile, a heavy duty robotic arm
lines the tunnel wall with
huge slabs of concrete
while the TBM digs.
This is the only way to tunnel deep,
fast and far.
And a tunnel is the only way to go
when you run into one of these.
Toronto, Canada, is a city
of nearly three million people.
And just like every major Urban core,
there is no room left for big new trains.
So, when a new transit project was proposed
through the heart of midtown,
they decided to go down.
The six-mile long Eglinton Crosstown,
once complete will greatly improve
this major city's transit,
moving more people much
more quickly across town.
And tunneling will allow
our new high-speed trains
to whip in and out of the existing stations
within dense urban cores.
Now, we just need to figure
out how to drill through this.
Tunneling technology
has definitely advanced,
but not at the scale
we're talking about to
cover the Rocky Mountains,
from Denver popping into Utah.
[narrator] Our new route takes us
straight through 200 miles
of some of the highest peaks
in North America.
And high-speed trains
and mountains don't mix.
[Kunz] Where a 50 or 100 mile an
hour train can wind around the mountains,
you can't come along then
and go 200 miles an hour.
The train would derail as
soon as you hit the first curve.
[narrator] But is a 200 mile
tunnel just a pipe dream?
We know where to go to find out.
The longest railway tunnel ever built,
runs through the heart
of the massive Swiss Alps.
It's 35 miles long
and constructed more than
a mile deep in solid rock.
It's called the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
Unlike the Gotthard Summit Tunnel,
built in the 1800's at a
much higher elevation,
the Gotthard base tunnel cuts
through the base of the mountain.
It's much longer and more
expensive and harder to dig.
But base tunnels have a huge advantage.
The trains that pass through them
never need to climb.
You can have much longer trains.
You can have also, faster speeds of course.
And deal with much
higher weights of the trains.
[narrator] The Gotthard base tunnel
is only one-sixth the length
of our Rocky Mountain dig.
But, it proves it can be done.
With one major caveat.
It took four TBMs and ten years to build.
To finish our tunnel in this century,
we'll need a TBM army.
Let's go with 30.
But at over $20 million a pop,
this one tunnel might break the bank.
Tunneling is the most expensive ways
to build high-speed rail
and so you try to keep it to a minimum,
but you pay the money,
you get it built once,
then you have great rail service forever.
[narrator] With the plan mapped out,
It's time to face the dark
history of railroad construction.
Why was laying track so deadly in the past?
And, can a modern mix
of man power and machine
get a brand new transcontinental railroad
to the end of the line safely?
If we built it today.
[narrator] What would it
take to build a brand new,
transcontinental railroad?
An all-electric high-speed
nationwide network,
that'll connect every major city
and across the entire country
from coast to coast in under 15 hours.
Our best estimate starts now.
First, we need to hire our crew.
The big problem? Laying railroad
is historically and ethically dangerous.
[Hugie] Back in the
1860's, you have people out
in the middle of nowhere
handling explosives.
They actually had the
avalanches wipe out entire crews,
working up in the mountains.
So, we really don't have a good estimate
of how many people
died building the railroad.
The number that we cite is somewhere
between 200 to 10,000 people.
[narrator] This time around,
we'd keep the death toll to zero.
And the jobs would be high-tech
and much higher paid.
[Elkind] High-speed rail
requires a whole different skill set
of expertise and labor.
You need to have people
who really understand wiring,
who understands sub-stations,
understand how to build all of
the different electrical infrastructure
that goes to power the trains.
[narrator] But even with
modern tools and training,
this is no cakewalk.
The scale of our plan
is much more ambitious.
So, how many workers do we need to hire?
[Kunz] California alone
just as a perspective,
they've only got about 120
miles under construction.
And I believe, they've
already creating like 4,000 jobs
just for that little piece.
[narrator] If 4,000 jobs can be created
to lay less than 150 miles of track,
our 17,000 mile network
could employ 560,000 people.
That's a massive workforce,
but the check is not yet in the mail.
We still don't know how long
all of this would take.
If we we made it a national priority,
made it our number one
thing that we'd invest in,
basically mobilize the whole country,
20-30 years, we could
build the whole system.
[narrator] Twenty years
for a project this massive
sounds insane.
But China built even more
than we're planning in under 15.
So, its within reach.
As for footing the bill,
we've got a plan for that too.
The original transcontinental
railroad would never have finished
without huge government help.
Extensive land grants and government bonds
were awarded to the railroad companies
for every mile of track laid.
Then in 1956,
when the interstate
highway system came around,
the government pitched in again.
This time, with over 90% of the funds.
In America, we spend between
200 and 300 billion dollars
every single year expanding our highways.
And yet, it deteriorates,
congestion keeps growing,
we might as well just
pour it into a river.
You know, for what we're
actually getting for the money.
[narrator] There may
be money in the account.
The problem is, massive
infrastructure projects
rarely go precisely to plan.
We already know it can be physically done.
But how do you build a track
through private land
and pristine countryside
without disrupting the current land owners?
It's not uncommon to have
literally dozens of agencies
that might need to give a permit
for any one particular project.
[narrator] These days, nine out
of ten mega infrastructure projects
come out at least 25% over budget.
And the bigger the project,
the bigger the mess.
Why? Overly optimistic plans,
honest mistakes,
and major unexpected problems.
A lot of major
infrastructure projects today,
get held up over land disputes.
[narrator] We want to ensure
we're setting our project up for success.
So, before we break ground,
we need to tally up the numbers.
How shocking could this price tag get
if we built it today?
[narrator] We're imagining a
high speed railroad network,
that goes from LA to New York City
and every major city in between.
It'll climb over rivers, roads,
extend deep under cities
and go through mountain ranges.
It'll be powered by electricity,
reach speeds of 230 miles per hour,
transporting passengers from coast to coast
in under 15 hours.
But, there's a science to
crossing the continent in style
and staying within budget.
These days, nine out of ten
mega infrastructure projects
come out at least 25% over budget.
Just look at California's
high-speed railroad dream.
Since it was first drawn up,
the cost to build the just
over a 500 mile stretch
between San Francisco and LA has doubled.
It now sits at 80 billion dollars.
That's ten billion dollars
for every 62 miles of track.
And at that rate our 17,000 mile network
would cost 2.8 trillion
dollars to complete.
But it turns out California's rail efforts
may be an unfair comparison
for the rest of the country.
[Elkind] Well, California is a
pretty uniquely difficult place
to build any large project.
We have a lot of
environmental laws in California.
[narrator] California is also the
most populated state in the US,
and very mountainous too.
Both of those factors
can push a high-speed rail project
deep underground and over budget.
In a rural area, it might only cost
15 to 20 million dollars per mile.
In an urban area, it could cost
a half a billion dollars per mile.
[narrator] Based on all that,
let's crunch the actual numbers
for an entire nationwide bill.
Beneath 30 major downtown cores,
through 50 metro areas,
across 15,000 miles of rural landscape
and over 150 miles of bridges and tunnels.
When we did a refined calculation,
it came up to about 700 billion dollars
to build out our entire
national 17,000 mile map,
all state-of-the-art, 200 mile an
hour trains, the whole 17,000 miles.
[narrator] Compared
to 2.8 trillion dollars,
735 billion is a steal.
But remember our crazy idea
for a 185 mile-long base
tunnel through the Rockies?
Yeah. Well, that's an add-on.
So, unfortunately, it will
crank up the cost a bit more.
From an engineering
perspective, it's all possible,
but it's all unbelievably expensive.
[narrator] The Gotthard
base tunnel in Switzerland
cost about $220 million per mile to dig.
Multiply that by 185,
that's $66 billion more.
For good measure, let's
call our full nationwide build
an even one trillion dollars total.
That's more money than
most people can even fathom.
But when we're talking
about nation building projects,
is that number actually that big?
[Kunz] In America, we spend
between 200 and 300 billion dollars
every single year, expanding our highways.
[narrator] The equivalent
of four to five years
of the national roads budget
could pay for an entire
nationwide network of rail.
So, it's ultimately up to us.
Because in the global
competition between planes,
trains and automobiles,
the traveling public
decides who gets the prize.
[Elkind] Airplane travel is expensive.
High-speed rail by
comparison is much less costly.
And so, for that reason, people are really
motivated and excited to take the train.
[narrator] There's already a sweet spot
for high-speed rail.
And if trains keep getting faster,
that distance will grow.
But just like the first
transcontinental railroad,
rail succeeds if it can offer
a ride that's better, cheaper
and faster too, if we built it today.
one of America's greatest
engineering achievements.
The transcontinental railroad
was a very pivotal point in history.
Putting America at the center of the world.
[narrator] And while it's construction
was a mammoth undertaking,
it's impact on the country
was equally as profound.
[Hugie] Completion of the railroad
made us truly the United States.
[narrator] But with today's technology,
is the golden age of train
travel grinding to a halt?
[Lewis] The way to get from
the east coast to the west coast
is always going to be on an airplane.
Why would you go through the inconvenience
of taking a train...
[narrator] So, what if we built a
brand new transcontinental railroad,
that connects the
country like never before.
Some of these trains have been
tested at upwards of 300 miles an hour,
approaching jet speed on the ground.
You can have much longer trains.
You can deal with much
higher weight of the trains.
As soon as you provide it,
you're going to see people
flock by the millions to ride these.
[narrator] What have we learnt
since the railroad was originally built?
We're going to see if we can do it better
using the toughest equipment,
modern engineering and an unlimited budget.
Everybody likes the idea of
these big infrastructure projects until
it might come through their backyard.
[narrator] Imagine,
the world's greatest wonders reimagined.
We're wondering,
how long would it take?
How much would it cost?
How many workers would we need?
Could we even do it?
If we built it today.
[train horn blowing]
[narrator] Promontory Summit, Utah.
Today, it's the remote site
of Golden Spike National Historical Park,
the location of the historic completion
of the first transcontinental railroad.
And, back in 1869, there was no greater
technological achievement
in the United States.
Transcontinental railroad was an incredible
technological feat for its time.
It was something gigantic.
It was something man-made.
It was something powerful.
[narrator] The building of
the transcontinental railroad
was set up in terms of
competition between two companies.
In 1863, the Central
Pacific Railroad Company,
began laying track Eastward
from Sacramento, California.
While a second company,
the Union Pacific Railroad
started building Westward
from Omaha, Nebraska.
By Spring, 1869, the two railroads met
in Promontory Summit, Utah.
690 miles to the West,
Sacramento, California.
And 1,086 miles to the East,
Omaha, Nebraska.
On May 10th 1869, we had
around a thousand people here,
gathered for one of the most significant
achievements in our nation's history.
The golden spike, the last spike needed
to complete the transcontinental railroad
was placed within six inches of this spot.
[narrator] The driving of the golden spike
ushered in an exciting new era of
national progress and expansion.
When the train connection
finally opened up,
that enabled people to do in a
few days, what used to take months.
[narrator] With the
completion of the track,
the travel time for making
the 3,000 mile journey,
was cut from a matter of
months to just seven days.
Suddenly, people began to migrate West,
like never before.
It's just really changed
the idea of land-based travel
in a way that humans had never seen before.
[narrator] There's no question that
the transcontinental railroad facilitated
Westward expansion,
but this symbol of human achievement
also revealed the dark side of history too.
In the 19th century,
as the United States transformed
into an industrial society,
with little business regulations,
a small number of men
referred to as "Robber Barons",
dominated crucial industries.
In particular, the railroad industry.
[Lewis] A lot of the
transcontinental railroad was built
using labor that was often exploited.
And a lot of immigrant labor
that came over to build it.
It was also built on Native lands
that was taken from them.
So, there's a lot of caveats to it.
And then environmentally, it led to
a lot of natural resource exploitation.
[narrator] Once the public
became aware of their dealings,
the robber barons were exposed.
And soon, the age of
unregulated business ended.
By 1890, railroad lines covered
nearly every corner of the United States.
And by 1916, 98% of intercity travel
was done on the rails.
Transcontinental railroad
connected everybody and everything.
And it can take you, it seemed, anywhere.
[narrator] But fast forward 150 years,
and trains are no longer fast enough.
Right now, we are super connected.
Right, you can get on
a plane in the east coast
and be on the west coast a
few hours later and vice versa.
[narrator] So, how would we build our new
high-speed transcontinental railroad today
to fit a modern population?
Turns out,
we're not the first ones
to consider the concept.
Japan, 1964.
After decades of post-war rebuilding
the first "Shinkansen" or bullet train,
hits the rails between the
country's two busiest cities,
Tokyo and Osaka.
And cuts the travel time
of traditional rail in half.
The bullet train used the
technology known simply as
standard high speed rail.
And it started a new era of super-fast
and super safe trains.
Japan has carried something like nine
billion passengers without one single death.
[narrator] Today, Japan has a
network of nine high-speed rail lines,
servicing 22 of its major cities
stretching across its three main islands.
It's the busiest high-speed
rail service in the world.
And they're not the only country
making high-speed rail travel a reality.
London to Paris to Brussels.
High speed rail has proven
to be very popular in Europe.
[narrator] Following its first service
between Paris and Lyon in 1981,
France's high-speed rail network
now provides connections to
almost every major city across France.
Today, the high-speed line
has moved beyond Paris,
offering service to destinations
in neighboring countries.
But, by far the longest
high-speed rail network
is located in China.
Today, China has laid down over
22,000 miles of high-speed track
over the last decade.
And by 2035, that number could double.
The high-speed rail
revolution is in high gear.
And according to Andy Kunz,
it's time for the US to get on board.
I've literally devoted my life to this
because of how important
this is for our future
and for all of our citizens
to have a better way to get around.
[narrator] While the US has struggled
to make high-speed rail a reality,
in 2008, California kicked
off the nation's largest
and most ambitious infrastructure project.
The plan proposed to
lay down 520 miles of track
between San Francisco and Los Angeles,
but after more than a decade of
construction and financial delays,
the project has hit a wall.
When it comes to speed,
some experts question what the future holds
for the US rail industry.
Many existing lines are
actually getting slower.
A lot of passenger rail
routes are not as fast today
as they were 50 or 60 years ago.
In many parts of this country,
high-speed rail makes
zero sense on any level.
The distance is simply too far,
where no ground transportation technology
will significantly compete with air travel.
[narrator] But as the demand for
faster and safer travel increases,
what if we could bring
the US back on track?
How can you say it's not gonna work
when you look all over the world
and 20 nations have it and
it's working great everyday.
[narrator] A modern
transcontinental railroad,
equipped with the latest technology
and the world's fastest trains,
could open the doors to the next
generation of rail travel across the US.
But where are we going to build it?
What materials are we
going to build it out of?
How long will it take?
And how much would it cost
if we built it today?
[narrator] One of the
greatest technological
advancements of the 19th century
was the completion of the
first transcontinental railroad
across the United States.
And now, we're curious.
Could we outdo the original?
Today most people who
travel by rail are commuters.
But back in 1869,
travelling long distances by train
was considered revolutionary.
A trip West, that once took 35 days,
now took under ten.
California up until that time,
a lot of people referred to
it as almost like an island,
because the only way you could
get to California was by boat.
[narrator] Those with money
could buy a ticket and sail West,
around the remote tip of South America
through some of the most
treacherous waterways on the planet.
But the cheapest and most dangerous route
was by land via wagon train.
[Hugie] Between 1843 and 1866,
around a half million people
travel across the continent.
Of that half million people,
around 50,000 of those died.
Typhoid, fever, smallpox,
measles, dysentery,
all very real threats from the trail.
You also had high accidents rates,
with wagons moving heavy
oxen and mules around.
You also had a surprising number
of accidental gunshot wounds
from people who were very armed
to go out in the wilderness,
but maybe not the best trained.
[narrator] For more than
another half a century,
the railroads remained the biggest
and most dominant industry.
But fast forward to today,
and who would want to
take days to cross country,
when it can be done in hours by plane.
[Lewis] The way to get from the East coast
to the West coast is always
going to be on an airplane.
To use a pun, it took off in the 1950's
with the advent of the jet engine.
And that dramatically increased the range
that planes could fly, it
increased their speed.
And it just made it super practical.
[narrator] Or in the
comfort of your own car.
[Cervero] The car is
just a really magnificent
on-demand, door-to-door form of mobility
that it's hard for trains
today to effectively compete.
[narrator] Clearly, when
it comes to convenience,
planes and cars are the
most popular ways to travel.
But Andy Kunz is confident a faster train
can revive the industry.
The greatest benefit of high-speed rail is
the extreme high-capacity
mobility that it offers.
A single high-speed rail system
can literally move more people
than two airports combined.
They're never behind schedule.
And they're never congested
and backed up like our highways.
On the train, you can also work.
You can walk around, you
can use your phone, your laptop.
So it's productive time.
[narrator] For commuters, we can see
how taking a train make sense.
But long-distance travel
is a whole other ballgame.
From what we can gather,
the most important factor
for both types of travel
is time.
And experts believe, there's a sweet spot
where high-speed trains could win the race.
Too close to fly, too far
away to drive conveniently.
That's kind of a sweet spot for rail.
Traditionally, the sweet
spot has been about
up to 500 miles of travel.
[narrator] The train itself is not as fast,
but the door to door trip is.
You spend two more hours
getting to and from the airport.
Another hour sitting around for security.
And another hour waiting
for your plane to take-off.
You start adding up all those hours
and all the inconveniences,
high-speed rail really
make sense right now,
with trips up to a thousand miles.
[narrator] Today, about 500 million
train tickets are sold each year.
In Japan, it's nearly 25 billion.
High-speed rail must be offering
something the traveling public wants,
and that is key.
Because we can't railroad
the people into buying in.
So, let's imagine a brand new
high-speed transcontinental railroad
that's fast, efficient and expansive enough
to connect people traveling in the US
from coast to coast.
Now, it's time to lay out a plan.
Like, where can we lay our track
without making blood boil.
Everybody likes the idea of
these big infrastructure projects
until it might come to their backyard.
[narrator] How fast can we go?
So, if you're going to be taking a curve,
you need to make sure
that the folks on the train
don't end up on the window.
[narrator] What brand new state-of-the-art
materials will we use?
And, how would we build a railroad
through the country's biggest cities?
And of course, there is these...
You can't really wind around the mountains.
You need to go straight through them.
[narrator] Not to mention, how
many workers will we need?
How long will it take?
And how much will all of this cost?
[Lewis] A high-speed rail network that
would crisscross the rocky mountains
would be tremendously expensive.
[narrator] For this
project to be a success,
everything will rely on location.
A transcontinental
railroad has to extend from
one coast to another.
And if we follow the
lead of the robber barons,
we might end up with something like this.
But, would a single rail
line across the entire country
even make sense today?
No, I... It absolute does not...
Los Angeles to New
York, the two largest cities
are some 2,700 and
almost 3,000 miles apart.
So, I think air travel
is still much faster.
[Lewis] Our existing
infrastructure is already pretty good.
So, it would have to be
a really dramatic leap,
in order to make a substantial difference
in how this country is connected.
[narrator] Thanks to the plane,
even a faster train may never
compete for coast to coast rides.
But, if our goal is to
truly connect this country,
maybe we need an even bolder plan.
Well, I think eventually it will make
sense to connect coast to coast,
but this will need to be built in phases.
The idea was to build about
5,000 miles or so, per phase.
[narrator] Each of the four phases
in the US high-speed
rail authority master-plan
will link more and more
of the country together
until 17,000 miles
of brand new high-speed track are laid.
North, South, East and West.
Transcontinental, just
got a whole new meaning.
I do think high-speed rail network for the
United States as a whole does make sense.
We have enough cities that
are in that intermediate distance,
where you could essentially hopscotch
from city-to-city, to connect
in LA to the New York City.
It may not be the same passenger traveling
all that way,
but having all the cities in United
States linked by high-speed rail,
would provide a huge benefit
to people in this country.
[narrator] With our new
super-sized route chosen,
it's now full steam ahead.
But, first things first,
what kind of high-speed
train is best for our needs?
[Kunz] Imagine if you could
get DC to New York in one hour.
You're going to see people
flock by the millions to ride these.
[narrator] We're imagining building
a brand new transcontinental railroad
that will connect the
country like never before.
But, to loco-motivate travelers to
choose trains over cars and planes,
riding the rails has to
pick up a little more speed.
Certainly, more than what
trains of the past provided.
[Brown] It's a lot of hard work.
It's just always doing something.
There are lot of maintenance
to keep them running.
[narrator] When the first transcontinental
railroad was built in 1869,
the steam engine was
the fastest in the industry,
but top speed in those days
was only 78 miles per hour.
And even achieving that amount of power
wasn't easy.
That pile of coal will take you about
120 miles before you had to reload.
The water, you could go
about 30 miles on the water
before you have to refill.
[narrator] As coal burns
inside the locomotive's fire box,
water in a large tank
surrounding it heats up
and turns into steam.
When the engineer opens the throttle,
the steam fills the locomotive cylinders,
where it quickly expands
and pushes a piston,
which then drives the locomotives wheels.
Then came the diesel train,
which could travel at speeds
of up to 150 miles per hour.
But with today's technology,
could we do better than diesel?
The fuel of the future if we want
to be sustainable is electricity.
[narrator] The newest high-speed trains
run on renewable energy for power.
In comparison to diesel trains,
electric trains transfer about
95% of the energy to the wheels.
Whereas, diesel trains
transfer about 30% to 35%
of the combustion generated
energy to the wheels.
In Japan, they're pushing the
need for speed even further.
They're operating with trains
that are capable of reaching speeds
of up to 250 miles per hour.
First of all, it uses
magnets to levitate the train
to get the car unit off the track,
so there is virtually no resistance.
And then it uses magnets
to really propel the train,
horizontally over the guideway.
[narrator] "Maglev", as
this technology is called,
is about as close to magic as science gets.
And in April 2015,
this test train broke the land
speed world record for rail,
racing down the track at a jaw dropping
375 miles per hour.
So, what's the next generation
high-speed levitating train?
Well, from our POV,
the future of train travel
is all about hyper-speed
and one technology competing
for the title is Hyperloop.
[Josh] With Hyperloop, you
can go the speed of an aircraft
for roughly the same energy consumption
as a truck going about ten times slower.
[narrator] Josh Giegel is the
co-founder of Virgin Hyperloop,
one of the handful of
companies around the world,
bringing Elon musk's dream of
frictionless, ground-based travel to life.
Hyperloop is a new mode of transportation,
where are we are using
electromagnetic levitation
to lift up the vehicle
and to also propel the vehicle,
inside of a tube.
Not only does the enclosure make it safe,
but if it's going to be in a tube,
why not take most of the air out of it
so that you can go these
speeds with very little drag.
Theoretically, our propulsion system
could go thousands of miles an hour.
Practical speed is something on
the order of about 600 miles an hour.
[narrator] With hyper-speed and efficiency,
Hyperloop could be the
future of transportation.
But many still think, the
future is where it should stay.
Hyperloop isn't ready for primetime.
For all of the reasons that a
nationwide high-speed rail network
would be impractical,
Hyperloop is ten times
more impractical than that.
[Elkind] I would like to see
the technology deployed
but in the meantime, the
dangling promise of Hyperloop
should not be used as an excuse
not to deploy the infrastructure
that we know works.
[narrator] Our brand new
transcontinental railroad
also needs a plan we
can put into action today.
[Kunz] Right now off the shelf,
that's where standard
high-speed rail is available.
[narrator] Standard
high-speed rail is the technology
you see working around the world right now.
It's steel wheels riding on steel rails,
just like traditional trains.
But that's where the similarities end.
So high-speed rail is a
really advanced system.
They have a bar that
goes up that rides along
pulling the electricity
from the overhead wire.
And then, that's what propels the trains.
[narrator] This direct
link to the power grid
means the trains never have to refuel
or carry heavy batteries
like today's electric cars.
High-speed trains are super lightweight
and the most high-tech Italian machines,
use much smaller direct drive motors
fixed to the wheels in each car.
It's probably 20% more efficient that way
than with the power cars at each end.
[narrator] Okay, but what about speed?
[Kunz] The top speeds we
see in high-speed rail today
are about 220 to 230 miles an hour.
[narrator] It's not Hyperloop fast,
but a coast to coast
train trip in under 15 hours
would still be a revolution.
And those shorter sweet spot rides...
[Kunz] Imagine if you could get
DC to New York in one hour,
you are going to see people
flock by the millions to ride these.
[narrator] It seems like an all-electric
high-speed railroad is the way to go.
But before we can break ground,
there are still plenty
of factors to consider.
Like, what materials will we need?
And how will we build without disrupting
our country's beautiful
and natural landscape?
[narrator] We're imagining a brand new
transcontinental railroad across America.
An all-electric high-speed
train that'll connect the country
coast to coast.
And hit every major
urban center in between.
Now, it's time to talk materials.
You basically have to
build a new infrastructure
from the ground up for these systems.
[narrator] The infrastructure
for a project like this
includes all the overhead wires,
power systems, bridges
and the 17,000 miles of brand new track,
steel rails as far as the eye can see.
But the ultra-smooth rails
used by high speed trains today
are far superior to those of the past.
When you have 200 mile an
hour trains that are light weight,
you need super precision
welded steel rails.
So you don't have that
bump, bump, bump, bump,
like you would have on a normal train.
The problem with those
bumps is if they expand,
it could actually split and
then cause a train to derail.
[narrator] With high-speed rail,
there's also no wood in sight.
[Kunz] Almost all the ties
nowadays are concrete
and some of the high-speed systems
are actually going with slab track,
where they're not using ties at all.
It's actually a big chunk of concrete
that the rail is attached to.
[narrator] Concrete is rock solid.
And can last for thousands of years.
For proof, just look at
the Pantheon in Rome.
Concrete is an old technology,
but a great one,
especially when we need to build our track
over rivers or even roads.
[Lewis] In many parts of this country,
the railroad meets the
road and there's a crossing.
And so, when, when a
freight train is coming,
the rail gates go down,
the cars know to stop,
the train can go through
and then they go up.
Well, when a train is
moving at 180 miles an hour,
it's a lot more dangerous to
have that at-grade crossing.
[narrator] But, cars
aren't the only obstacle
our super speed trains need to avoid.
Our biggest hurdle yet will
require digging deep into the Earth
and our bank account.
[Elkind] Tunneling
recently in the United States,
has been a major driver of cost.
We burn through way too much cash
trying to tunnel, but it
is a really critical way
to deliver a much more
effective train system
if you can tunnel.
[narrator] Tunneling and
underground construction
has advanced light years
since the late 19th century.
The days of using gun powder
to blast tunnels out of rock are over.
These days, workers can
cover double the amount of area
in a shorter amount of time.
Thanks to these giant boring machines,
or TBMs.
Imagine a giant motorized cheese grater
boring a hole through a mountain of cheese.
That's kind of how this works.
As the cheese or rock
in this case is removed,
a built-in conveyor belt
instantly takes it above ground.
Meanwhile, a heavy duty robotic arm
lines the tunnel wall with
huge slabs of concrete
while the TBM digs.
This is the only way to tunnel deep,
fast and far.
And a tunnel is the only way to go
when you run into one of these.
Toronto, Canada, is a city
of nearly three million people.
And just like every major Urban core,
there is no room left for big new trains.
So, when a new transit project was proposed
through the heart of midtown,
they decided to go down.
The six-mile long Eglinton Crosstown,
once complete will greatly improve
this major city's transit,
moving more people much
more quickly across town.
And tunneling will allow
our new high-speed trains
to whip in and out of the existing stations
within dense urban cores.
Now, we just need to figure
out how to drill through this.
Tunneling technology
has definitely advanced,
but not at the scale
we're talking about to
cover the Rocky Mountains,
from Denver popping into Utah.
[narrator] Our new route takes us
straight through 200 miles
of some of the highest peaks
in North America.
And high-speed trains
and mountains don't mix.
[Kunz] Where a 50 or 100 mile an
hour train can wind around the mountains,
you can't come along then
and go 200 miles an hour.
The train would derail as
soon as you hit the first curve.
[narrator] But is a 200 mile
tunnel just a pipe dream?
We know where to go to find out.
The longest railway tunnel ever built,
runs through the heart
of the massive Swiss Alps.
It's 35 miles long
and constructed more than
a mile deep in solid rock.
It's called the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
Unlike the Gotthard Summit Tunnel,
built in the 1800's at a
much higher elevation,
the Gotthard base tunnel cuts
through the base of the mountain.
It's much longer and more
expensive and harder to dig.
But base tunnels have a huge advantage.
The trains that pass through them
never need to climb.
You can have much longer trains.
You can have also, faster speeds of course.
And deal with much
higher weights of the trains.
[narrator] The Gotthard base tunnel
is only one-sixth the length
of our Rocky Mountain dig.
But, it proves it can be done.
With one major caveat.
It took four TBMs and ten years to build.
To finish our tunnel in this century,
we'll need a TBM army.
Let's go with 30.
But at over $20 million a pop,
this one tunnel might break the bank.
Tunneling is the most expensive ways
to build high-speed rail
and so you try to keep it to a minimum,
but you pay the money,
you get it built once,
then you have great rail service forever.
[narrator] With the plan mapped out,
It's time to face the dark
history of railroad construction.
Why was laying track so deadly in the past?
And, can a modern mix
of man power and machine
get a brand new transcontinental railroad
to the end of the line safely?
If we built it today.
[narrator] What would it
take to build a brand new,
transcontinental railroad?
An all-electric high-speed
nationwide network,
that'll connect every major city
and across the entire country
from coast to coast in under 15 hours.
Our best estimate starts now.
First, we need to hire our crew.
The big problem? Laying railroad
is historically and ethically dangerous.
[Hugie] Back in the
1860's, you have people out
in the middle of nowhere
handling explosives.
They actually had the
avalanches wipe out entire crews,
working up in the mountains.
So, we really don't have a good estimate
of how many people
died building the railroad.
The number that we cite is somewhere
between 200 to 10,000 people.
[narrator] This time around,
we'd keep the death toll to zero.
And the jobs would be high-tech
and much higher paid.
[Elkind] High-speed rail
requires a whole different skill set
of expertise and labor.
You need to have people
who really understand wiring,
who understands sub-stations,
understand how to build all of
the different electrical infrastructure
that goes to power the trains.
[narrator] But even with
modern tools and training,
this is no cakewalk.
The scale of our plan
is much more ambitious.
So, how many workers do we need to hire?
[Kunz] California alone
just as a perspective,
they've only got about 120
miles under construction.
And I believe, they've
already creating like 4,000 jobs
just for that little piece.
[narrator] If 4,000 jobs can be created
to lay less than 150 miles of track,
our 17,000 mile network
could employ 560,000 people.
That's a massive workforce,
but the check is not yet in the mail.
We still don't know how long
all of this would take.
If we we made it a national priority,
made it our number one
thing that we'd invest in,
basically mobilize the whole country,
20-30 years, we could
build the whole system.
[narrator] Twenty years
for a project this massive
sounds insane.
But China built even more
than we're planning in under 15.
So, its within reach.
As for footing the bill,
we've got a plan for that too.
The original transcontinental
railroad would never have finished
without huge government help.
Extensive land grants and government bonds
were awarded to the railroad companies
for every mile of track laid.
Then in 1956,
when the interstate
highway system came around,
the government pitched in again.
This time, with over 90% of the funds.
In America, we spend between
200 and 300 billion dollars
every single year expanding our highways.
And yet, it deteriorates,
congestion keeps growing,
we might as well just
pour it into a river.
You know, for what we're
actually getting for the money.
[narrator] There may
be money in the account.
The problem is, massive
infrastructure projects
rarely go precisely to plan.
We already know it can be physically done.
But how do you build a track
through private land
and pristine countryside
without disrupting the current land owners?
It's not uncommon to have
literally dozens of agencies
that might need to give a permit
for any one particular project.
[narrator] These days, nine out
of ten mega infrastructure projects
come out at least 25% over budget.
And the bigger the project,
the bigger the mess.
Why? Overly optimistic plans,
honest mistakes,
and major unexpected problems.
A lot of major
infrastructure projects today,
get held up over land disputes.
[narrator] We want to ensure
we're setting our project up for success.
So, before we break ground,
we need to tally up the numbers.
How shocking could this price tag get
if we built it today?
[narrator] We're imagining a
high speed railroad network,
that goes from LA to New York City
and every major city in between.
It'll climb over rivers, roads,
extend deep under cities
and go through mountain ranges.
It'll be powered by electricity,
reach speeds of 230 miles per hour,
transporting passengers from coast to coast
in under 15 hours.
But, there's a science to
crossing the continent in style
and staying within budget.
These days, nine out of ten
mega infrastructure projects
come out at least 25% over budget.
Just look at California's
high-speed railroad dream.
Since it was first drawn up,
the cost to build the just
over a 500 mile stretch
between San Francisco and LA has doubled.
It now sits at 80 billion dollars.
That's ten billion dollars
for every 62 miles of track.
And at that rate our 17,000 mile network
would cost 2.8 trillion
dollars to complete.
But it turns out California's rail efforts
may be an unfair comparison
for the rest of the country.
[Elkind] Well, California is a
pretty uniquely difficult place
to build any large project.
We have a lot of
environmental laws in California.
[narrator] California is also the
most populated state in the US,
and very mountainous too.
Both of those factors
can push a high-speed rail project
deep underground and over budget.
In a rural area, it might only cost
15 to 20 million dollars per mile.
In an urban area, it could cost
a half a billion dollars per mile.
[narrator] Based on all that,
let's crunch the actual numbers
for an entire nationwide bill.
Beneath 30 major downtown cores,
through 50 metro areas,
across 15,000 miles of rural landscape
and over 150 miles of bridges and tunnels.
When we did a refined calculation,
it came up to about 700 billion dollars
to build out our entire
national 17,000 mile map,
all state-of-the-art, 200 mile an
hour trains, the whole 17,000 miles.
[narrator] Compared
to 2.8 trillion dollars,
735 billion is a steal.
But remember our crazy idea
for a 185 mile-long base
tunnel through the Rockies?
Yeah. Well, that's an add-on.
So, unfortunately, it will
crank up the cost a bit more.
From an engineering
perspective, it's all possible,
but it's all unbelievably expensive.
[narrator] The Gotthard
base tunnel in Switzerland
cost about $220 million per mile to dig.
Multiply that by 185,
that's $66 billion more.
For good measure, let's
call our full nationwide build
an even one trillion dollars total.
That's more money than
most people can even fathom.
But when we're talking
about nation building projects,
is that number actually that big?
[Kunz] In America, we spend
between 200 and 300 billion dollars
every single year, expanding our highways.
[narrator] The equivalent
of four to five years
of the national roads budget
could pay for an entire
nationwide network of rail.
So, it's ultimately up to us.
Because in the global
competition between planes,
trains and automobiles,
the traveling public
decides who gets the prize.
[Elkind] Airplane travel is expensive.
High-speed rail by
comparison is much less costly.
And so, for that reason, people are really
motivated and excited to take the train.
[narrator] There's already a sweet spot
for high-speed rail.
And if trains keep getting faster,
that distance will grow.
But just like the first
transcontinental railroad,
rail succeeds if it can offer
a ride that's better, cheaper
and faster too, if we built it today.