Then use the rail terminology. If Very High Speed rail and Medium High Speed rail share the same alignment, it will be a newly established alignment with all the costs (and political controversy) of establishing a public right of way that goes along with it.

And there is still the problem, is it the optimal alignment for very high speed rail, or the optimal alignment for medium high speed rail. It can't be both at the same time, because the very high speed rail should take the most rapid route between the centers that it is connecting, and the medium high speed rail should take the route that provides the most effective transport for potential passengers at the intermediate stops in between.

And of course there are a lot of existing alignments in the US that are not fully built out that fill the bill for a medium high speed alignment ... existing rail alignments that would be suitable for very high speed rail is much less common.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.