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Shit input gives shit output. States that took rail seriously prior to 2000 are setup much better for present rail programs. Illinois for example has the setup for a real high-speed rail program to any major midwestern city they want, and can get it if they are able to separate passenger from freight. This is increasingly likely to happen as discussions regarding electrified Amtrak services get serious. Or look at the west coast, California has a formal statewide rail program building on it's programs started in the 1980s. In two years it will have the most modern electric railroad in all of North America and within 10 years it'll connect all major cities in the state.
If you want better rail you have to pay for it and be willing to tell people we will make the investment now rather than wait longer. For Atlanta, this discussion is already happening in regards to connections to Amtrak's Piedmont - itself a huge program undertaken in the mid-00s which will connect with Virginia's present HSR plans. If Tennessee wants good rail they have to line up and pay for it themselves and not assume Congress will just give it to them. Because, historically, they've elected assholes to Congress that would shit all over other states' plans for rail investment.
