lpetrich
Contributor
I'll work out where an Australian high-speed line would go. List of cities in Australia by population - nearly all of them are near the coast, with most of them on the east and eastern south coasts. That is because Australia's interior is mostly desert.
Adelaide SA - 729 km - Melbourne VIC - 662 km - Canberra ACT - 285 km - Sydney NSW - 917 km - Brisbane QLD - 1,363 km - Townsville QLD - 347 km - Cairns QLD
A linear topology, but with desert instead of water on one side.
Turning to the contiguous United States (CONUS), the Atlantic Axis is linear, because it goes through lowland with mountains instead of water on one side for most of it. Greater Chicagoland has a star topology, because of Chicago's much greater population than its neighbors.
File:US population map.png and ile:USA 2000 population density.png show that CONUS is much more populous east of I-35 than west of that freeway. I-35 extends between Minnesota and Texas. That means that one may feasibly connect the Atlantic Axis, Greater Chicagoland, and the Texas Triangle to make a network topology.
West of I-35, urban areas are much more isolated until one reaches the west coast, where HSR plans have a linear topology from the mountains and deserts on the inland side and often mountains on the coastal side.
Adelaide SA - 729 km - Melbourne VIC - 662 km - Canberra ACT - 285 km - Sydney NSW - 917 km - Brisbane QLD - 1,363 km - Townsville QLD - 347 km - Cairns QLD
A linear topology, but with desert instead of water on one side.
Turning to the contiguous United States (CONUS), the Atlantic Axis is linear, because it goes through lowland with mountains instead of water on one side for most of it. Greater Chicagoland has a star topology, because of Chicago's much greater population than its neighbors.
File:US population map.png and ile:USA 2000 population density.png show that CONUS is much more populous east of I-35 than west of that freeway. I-35 extends between Minnesota and Texas. That means that one may feasibly connect the Atlantic Axis, Greater Chicagoland, and the Texas Triangle to make a network topology.
West of I-35, urban areas are much more isolated until one reaches the west coast, where HSR plans have a linear topology from the mountains and deserts on the inland side and often mountains on the coastal side.