[dangus]

While I agree with your overall point, and I also think that hyperloop deployment is unrealistic, I think part of the idea of the concept of hyperloop is to make high speed rail fast enough for the expansive sizes of America.

If you took a 300km/hr train from Orlando to New York City, you’d still be competing poorly with a $100 Spirit Airlines flight.

That’s almost 6 hours on the train compared to a 2 hour flight.

Even in China where they’ve got the best high speed rail system in the world, most of the major cities are concentrated on one cost with huge populations and you still have Chinese travelers choosing low cost airlines for many longer trips (air travel in China was exploding before Covid).

I think what America needs to do is not to focus on long distance rail (which is what the current Amtrak CEO is doing) and to expand intercity high speed rail lines between major cities. There should be high speed rail linking relatively close regions that have clusters of cities.

(And of course, all of this is a great argument for making airline tickets pay more for their climate externalities - trains should be more attractive to consumers on price because they’re the lowest carbon form of transport)

[NoSorryCannot]

Most of the spent flying short routes isn't spent in the air. The process of getting to and away from the gate is so unpleasant and inefficient that it makes me a little angry if I think about it too long.

And that's if everything goes well. Delays are frequent. Add on top of that the cramped cabin, luggage restrictions, and that they ask you to not get up or use the bathroom for so long while the plane is going up or coming down (most of the ride on these short hops).

And it's _expensive_.

Flying is awful and I hate it and will gladly choose the train if it's remotely competitive.

[dmos62]

I think you might be underestimating the comfort and convenience of train travel.

> That’s almost 6 hours on the train compared to a 2 hour flight.

A 2 hour flight also has you getting to the airport early-ish (~1h), going through check-in and/or security (0.75-2.0h, 1.5h average in my experience), waiting for luggage upon arrival and navigating the airport (~0.5h), getting to center city from the airport (~1h). So in addition to 2 hours in the air, there's an additional cost of 1h+1.5h+0.5h+1h=4h, so that's 6 hours in total, and that's best case scenario.

I'd choose train travel over plane travel always, provided the trip is not more than a couple thousand kilometers and it's an express. Trains are spacious (in comparison), and you don't experience intense pressure changes, or the bad air conditioning that you have in planes. Air travel tires me out for the rest of the day; after train travel I find myself energetic enough to do things the same day.

[jaclaz]

Yes.

Related:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19557848

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19560125

[Aerroon]

The train could offer a better service though. More leg room, proper internet connections, better food (the altitude won't make it bland) being able to move around etc. You could even make the train overnight and people could sleep in them.

The other thing is that the airport process isn't very friendly.

[creaghpatr]

I've taken the Shanghai/Beijing route and I can tell you there is plenty of demand at that price point. Great value and not much longer than the overall airport process.