[pushtheenvelope]

counter-intuitively, bullet trains offer a great alternative that airlines cannot: travelling from SF to NY in about 10-12 hours. 8 hours to sleep on a flat bed, and an hour or two for dinner and breakfast on either end.

This would be far superior to the 5-hour red eye flights.

[tastygreenapple]

Most bullet trains run around ~250-300 km/h - it'd take ~15-17 hours to go from NYC to SF/LA on a bullet train.

That's 8 hours of sleeping, two hours eating, and 5-7 hours wondering if the speed of an airplane outweighs the discomfort.

[pushtheenvelope]

fair point - not sure why you are being downvoted.

Lets say SF to Chicago, then? Its about 2000 miles.

I was trying to illustrate a more general point that speed isn't necessarily the best or most optimal criteria even for long distances. My choice of example could have been better.