I've been peddling this map around on Reddit these last few days, and I'm curious what members of this Forum would say about it.
These routes would all be state-supported medium-distance trains, with trips lasting between 5-9 hours. I feel like this is the correct length for a train (perhaps stretching it just a little, even), because any longer trips would require more expensive accommodations - like the sleeping cars on the old Pioneer route. Imagine the Amtrak
San Joaquim service in California, which runs multiple trains per day on a route 300 miles long, lasting 6 hours - and apply that to the Great Basin, and I think you've got a recipe for success.
Granted, there are some elements here that are merely plausible but not necessarily probable, such as the new rail line in the median of I-15 between Moapa and Cedar City (120 miles) and a new rail bridge across the Snake River Gorge near Jerome, Idaho, in order to include a stop at Twin Falls. These could happen, but are not strictly necessary to connect the main city pairs.
I think that by having multiple departures on these medium distance routes, rather than having a single daily departure for a long-distance route (say, SLC to Los Angeles, or SLC to Portland Via Boise), the rail service can be much more focused, more reliable, keep a tighter and more competitive schedule, and can be upgraded more easily to more frequent departures and faster service. I love the long-distance trains, and I hope things like the California Zephyr never go away. But I also hope that Amtrak doesn't create any more of them, and instead focuses on shorter, more manageable, and more local routes, such as the ones on this map.