I never drive. Not because of some tre-hugging dogma. I just don't wan't to kill anyone accidentally.

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also, trains are not cool. if anyone went to europe and came back to tell you how cool it was to ride the train they were lying because they don't like you. they actually wanted you to go to europe and spend 14 hours in a train car aside a pair of ornery kids whose parents opted to drag on an ill-concieved vacation.

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The train thing, well I watch too many old movies. I can take a crowded crosstown bus or commuter train filled with my fellow unwashed masses with a certain zen-like detachment, but a cross-country trip, squalling brats, NO BAR CAR!? Yeah, the machete would have to come out. Maybe if more money was put into rail travel there'd be more trains with less crowding.

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"if anyone went to europe and came back to tell you how cool it was to ride the train they were lying because they don't like you. they actually wanted you to go to europe and spend 14 hours in a train car aside a pair of ornery kids whose parents opted to drag on an ill-concieved vacation."

Is this all anecdote? Or do you have some evidence to support this?

Let's see if we can answer a specific question:

Are high speed trains cheaper to maintain and just as fast than medium haul airflight?

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Obviously for long haul trips--and there are plenty of those in the US--planes are best. They are fast and somewhat cheap. Getting into and out airports is a pain but getting into and out of any major transportation hub is a pain so I won't count that against them.

But for medium haul trips, trains are definitely competitive.

By car for me to drive from Seattle to Portland Oregon, if I avoid rush times, is about 2.5 to 4 hours, depending if I speed or drive sanely. It costs about 25 to 30 bucks for gas. And you can't stretch your legs and get off your butt when you want to.

On a train this takes about 3.5 (at nights.) to 5 (during holidays and rider peaks.) hours, and that's with lots of stops all down the line. This costs about 28 bucks for a one way ticket. And, this is a huge plus, you get to walk around and stretch legs in way you just can't do on a plane or car.

If we separate the passenger lines from the freight lines like Europe and Asia have for their high speed lines, we cut this travel time to significantly less than a car, yet using less fuel than medium haul jets.

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Look, high speed rail disasters would make plane crashes look like a minor thing. Imagine a fully loaded Shinkansen or TGV derailing near a school building at 300 kph. The safety systems on high speed rail systems are at least as expensive and high tech as those on airlines. They have to be.

So unless you have some specific figures to point to, I think we fudge a bit and say the costs of safety systems are about the same.

So are there any other areas, for medium haul trips, were planes are both cheaper and just as fast as high speed trains?

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[www.bts.gov]

airlines have much fewer injuries per passenger mile than any other mode of transportation they list statistics on. if we held every other mode to the same standard of safety they'd all be much more expensive than they currently are.

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@tetracycloide: Very true, and DC still has the nicest and cleanest subway I've ever seen.

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there's really not a good way around the issue, either it's a slow and annoying process to get a card and security is a hassle each time or you deal with the fact that people have a tendancy to treat public facilities poorly when they are afforded privacy.

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Why on earth they have something like this in WV is beyond me. I've been there, used to live next to it. THERE ARE NO CITIES!!!

I thought the only PRT they had in WV was the hair care product and they can't call it Pert because they're too poor and can't afford to buy a vowel.

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"CRUST TOOTHPAST"

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