Upvote:4
No, it's not financially viable to run a bullet train in the middle of nowhere. Nevada has a population density of 10 people/km^2, Utah is mildly better with 99 -- to give you an example of a country where this works, Germany is 232 people/km^2. And the distances: the longest drive in Germany is probably Flensburg to Berchtesgaden ~1100km while SF to Chicago is about three times as much. No, you can't make this work.