New railroad connection routes

[thirdrail1]

Scott, look at the thread about the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern. That railroad is the only one that has proposed major new construction in many years, and its proposal, accessing the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, was the site of the last major construction projects about 40 years ago. Other than that, railroads do make adjustments to their lines to eliminate curves and grades where possible and affordable, but the cost of railroad construction is such that the traffic source involved has to be really immense, capable of generating dozens of unit trains daily for a new line to be feasible. The cost of laying railroad track is over $100.00 per FOOT, and this does not include grading or the cost of the underlying land.

[Anonymous]

Do the railroads ever look at ever adding "NEW" rail lines from one area to another ? For example Houston to Denver ? Bypassing New Mexico and a straight shot across the plains to cut time ?
Possibly other areas of the country that could work better rail connections. What's the cost per acre ?