So far as I know, there is no place that has built a high speed railroad that is regretting it. For most systems, the ridership has exceeded projections.
Try this: (I have not read it in full.) It is from a group calling themselves CALPRIG - California Public Interest Research Group
http://www.calprig.org/home/reports/report-archives/world-class-public-transit/world-class-public-transit/next-stop-california.-benefits-of-high-speed-around-the-world-and-whats-in-store-for-california
This should get you to a page listing a few reasons and has a link to a 40 something page pdf report that I have yet to read in full or even very far.
Among their points:
High speed rail will result in significant reduction in air travel between points served.
High speed rail will result in reduced intercity automobile travel between points served.
>>>Not in what I have read in this report, but have seen elsewhere, these demand reductions will eliminate or postpone the need to provide increased airport and road capacity. This is also a way of saying, if the money is not spent on the railroad it will need to, as much or more, be spent on capacity improvements for air and road travel.<<<
Between Washington and New York, with service that is slow by most HSR standards, the rail-air division is 62% rail, 38% air. This is not considering travel between intermediate pairs.
>>>In Taiwan within about two years of operation the number of flights between the major end point cities dropped from aboutg 40 per day to about 2 per day. This eliminated the need for airport expansion or simply insufficient flight slots necessary to meet demand. The freed up flight slots has permitted additional flights to other locations, including international flights, to be added.<<<
High speed rail uses considerably less energy per passenger mile than either air or automobile.
Japan states that Shinkansen trains use one-fourth the energy of air travel and one-sixth the energy of automobile. >>>Not stated is that the average Japanese automobile is smaller than the average automobile on US roads.<<<
Safety. There has never been a fatal accident on the Shinkansen and only one derailment, and that in an earthquake above 6.0. Further, everybody literlly walked out from the derailed train. >>>There have been two well known multiple fatality accidents in Europe, but both were on "ordinary railways", That is when operating on tracks that were not used solely by high speed trains. The multiple fatality at Eschede Germany involved a wheel type not used either before, since or ever anywhere else on high speed trainsets. Following the broken wheel there were several other factors that turned a high speed derailment into a major catastrophe. The recent collision in China between two high sped trains in China was not on a dedicated high-speed line, and appeared to be the result of violation of the most basic of operating principles under conditions of signal malfunction.<<<
Reliability. Low visibility / no visibility is not an issue. Most high speed railroads operate with very small delays. The average in Japan is 36 seconds.
Most HSR systems are at worst self sustaining. A lot are profitable.
>>>In Taiwan after just under five years in operation, the system is covering its operating costs, and most if not all the interest costs.<<<
Denser urban areas and less sprawl is a common result of increased travel by rail, as there is less land use for a given amount of capacity than for roads.
>>>The right of way for a high speed railway is approximately the same as that required for a two lane secondary road.<<<
Will these do for a start? Additions from others would be appreciated.
George
