There's so much information here, I don't know where to begin! You obvious put a lot of though into this idea, maybe too much. There is so little rail transit in this country and all of these ideas you put forth will require hundreds of billions in new investment. I don't see this happening and rail transit has been reduced all over the nation. So we are going in reverse, not forward.

When it comes to transit, lightrail gives you the biggest bang for the buck. Much cheaper than subway and just as expensive (if not more) than commuter rail. However, lightrail if done correct, can bring in hundreds of million if not billions in investment capital around the rail line. Subway and high speed rail will do this but at a much higher cost and commuter rail may not do this at all!

I don't believe we will ever see a national train network other than Amtrak.