High Speed Rail, EU and the US

Today, another iteration of the argument. It goes like this:

"Amtrak sucks, why can't the US have high speed rail like Europe!" 

"Because the US is way larger!"

 Let's settle this once and for all - it is. 

https://mapfight.appspot.com/us-vs-eu/united-states-european-union-2017-size-comparison

 As the borders don't line up exactly, let's talk area. 

 KM^2

9,834,000 - US 

4,476,000 - EU

So the US is about 2.2x the size of the EU.
Let's forget about Alaska for a moment (1,717,856 KM^2)

Let's also omit the rounding error of Hawaii, so we can talk continental US, and compare continental polities.

10,430 - Hawaii

9,834,000-1,717,856-10,430=8,116,144

8,116,144/4,476,000=1.8.

So the US is about twice as large. 

This is also completely irrelevant. When people talk about the US being 'too large', they aren't really talking about size--what they mean to talk about is density, that the space per person in the US is much larger than in the EU. This is completely true. 

Year | Population | Area | Density

2019 | US - 328.2 | 8,116,144 | 40.43

2019 | EU - 446  | 4,476,000 | 99.64

So, on average, the EU is about twice as dense as the US.

Now that we've dispensed with the need to check Quora, let's talk about why this argument is irrelevant: average density.

Most of the EU (like most of the US) is empty. (Chloropleth maps of density are often deceptive). 

Europe dot density map 

US Census Blocks, <1 person/square mile:

Hence, making density comparisons over such nearly continental scales is meaningless.