My brother's trip to visit me takes 19 hours by train, New York to Chicago and then to Milwaukee. The cost is outrageous. With an overnight sleeper it is over $1000. In China, a ride from Beijing to Shanghai by high-speed rail, which is close to the same distance as New York to Chicago, takes a little under 5 hours. The price: around 50 bucks. And it runs every 20 minutes.

https://www.newsweek.com/china-high-speed-rail-miracle-1924185?fbclid=IwY2xjawHpDBdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQLv-et6r7le-aSnbbkww85pWqK_m07eNY_9YFlLXxiyzceCxZVlwn35ZQ_aem_hLCx_bGn60zaunpvkGY7bg