Quote Originally Posted by canuck View Post
We tend to forget that apart from great rail service in Europe, the air travel offer is not in any way deficient because of it. The density in Europe made it just about perfect for the mix of travel choices available. I think we will see high speed rail happen, probably not very high speed like they are building in China, but we will get options open. That by the way means competition. I also agree with you GP on the Airlines subsidies bit. I wonder if there are any major Airlines out there making any kind of profit. Europe's largest airlines are also heavily subsidized and leveraged in a big way, when not wholly state owned such as Air France.

I would think that for economic security alone, highspeed rail is an important new tool to develop. At a time when fuel availability is uncertain, and specific regions of the US are affected by economic decline in specific industries, this should be enough of an incentive to move forward. The other choices will be there, but trains that run on time and can get you from city centers in an hour more than the plane takes, say Detroit to Chicago or Montreal to Toronto
are worthwhile. If you consider the travel times from airport to downtown etc...
Amtrak probably doesnt want to lose business causing the delay in the development in High Speed Rail. I had taken a train from Detroit to Chicago. It had taken me 5 grueling hours to get there