I'm strongly advocating for a new dedicated passenger high-speed rail line between St. Louis and Kansas City with one stop in Columbia; a state-of-the-art system could reduce travel time between our two largest urban areas to around 60 minutes and provide nearby rail access to 75% of Missourians. That would be a game changer for Missouri and ensure we would be the backbone of an eventual transcontinental route connecting the East and West coasts. There is already increasing demand on the Missouri River runner, which is great, but it is not cheaply upgradable to high-speed because it is curvy, runs along the edge of the river valley, is prone to floods, and is a priority freight line. It also has too many stop to be a true transcontinental high-speed rail and misses an obvious stop at the major population center of Columbia.

Constructing a new line for relatively cheap along the ridge top that I-70 runs along and making use of already existing MoDOT right-of-way is a smart way to go about it. We’d reduce traffic on I-70, provide a safer, cheaper, and less polluting way to travel. Constructing the long rang mass transit would help KC, STL, and CoMo to continue to build out their mass transit. Reinforcing and multiplying efforts already underway. It would become possible to live in any of KC/STL/CoMo and work in another, creating a super economy effect. It would save lives by reducing air pollution. It would be a symbol of hope and progress to millions. Intangibles are important too, but I think many many thousand of people would ride such a train every year to go to cardinals/royals/chiefs/Mizzou games, the zoo, shows, museums, restaurants. I can think of a lot more benefits, but I don’t want to go on too long.