Absent high mountains, all flights under 2h should really be high-speed rail journeys on all-electric lines. I think with airport travel and check in times/greater likelihood of delays factored in, the time diff would be low. No need to even go hyperloop.
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When I lived in Downtown LA I would take the bus to SF because it was roughly the same total time with less chance of delay.
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Reminds me of Japan. I used to travel rt Fukuoka -Tokyo every week. Flight time was ~1:45, shinkansen 5 hrs. Usually flew, but bec of factors you mention not always
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Certainly agree for 1hr flights, but wonder if our air transport system could be better optimized for a speed advantage over rail. Check-in times could certainly be improved and I'm curious how travel times to an airport (vs a train station) net out for everyone in a metro area
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Idk, Switzerland and Japan seem to be doing alright even in the presence of mountains
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Sigh sadly we're struggling mightily to even deploy high speed rail in CA with all the zillions of local fiefdoms and ample consultant make work processes
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Aka how to turn a 2 hour flight from YVR to Portland into a 15 hour train ride because it stops in the middle a bunch of times. Or has to wait for its turn on a line.
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Flying from LA to SF (~70 minutes) is already comparable to driving the same trip door to door; all because of the waiting, delays, and extra travel time.
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Yes. London to Paris already achieved train supremacy decades ago








