Train Ride Tickets The BorderTransportationSystem has both a highway and a High-Speed Rail line, and stretches from Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California.  Currently Amtrak will charge a one-way ticket for this trip as $230 to $680 {No train directly to Brownsville, the prices were for Austin, Tx, on 8/24/2016  - The distance is 1,300 miles and will take about 19 hours driving. } Amtrak cost per mile is $0.18 lowest fare, $0.25 medium fare, and $0.52 deluxe fare.  The trip takes over 13 hours.  The BorderTransportationSystem will take under 8 hours and cost about the same as the Amtrak medium fare of $0.25 per mile.     Note that the Chinese Shanghai Maglev Train is charging ~ $0.50 USD for each mile of travel at nearly 280 MPH.        2015 prices Tickets on the Paris-Lyon line in France cost an average of 52¢ per mile, while Germany’s Hannover-Wurzburg’s average is 46¢ per mile. California’s per-mile price would even be cheaper than bullet trains between Shanghai and Beijing in China, where the average is 22¢ per mile; California's estimated HSR is $0.20 per mile Index of ... Cost differences between conventional HSR and Maglev Shanghai Maglev Train Transrapid