When you talk about maintaining the current infrastructure, you’re talking about completely replacing it anyway at a higher cost since it’s falling apart must be meticulously replaced with crappier materials. Why replace the same slow, century old infrastructure when you can replace it with high speed trains and rail that costs far less?

There are so many obvious reasons to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of transportation.

Because the current infrastructure doesn’t connect the country.

Because that inadequate infrastructure is literally falling apart.

Because poor Americans can’t easily move to places with better opportunity.

Because rail can be enacted extremely quickly and positively impact the lives of 300 plus million people.

Also, you’re completely wrong about the concentration of US population, which is very much concentrated on the east and west coasts.

Affordable transportation benefits a country nationally and individuals immeasurably at a very low cost.

Every country with trains has proven that, even the ones as large as the US.