And to link that with the earlier post about waiting for cargo, that is part of the issue. High speed passenger rail is fundamentally incompatible with slow heavy freights. Those ever heavier freight cars put serious stress on the track (actually the roadbed beneath the actual track) and quickly make those speeds by passenger trains unsafe. So you can only have high-speed passenger trains on dedicated track. Only in densely populated areas (like the northeast corridor between Washington and Boston) does the amount of passenger traffic justify dedicated tracks. And in those areas the land acquisition costs pretty much limit one to existing right of way. Now for parts of the Northeast corridor consolidation and increased use of trucks meant that there was enough surplus right of way that some of it IS owned outright by Amtrak and so they can keep the track in good enough shape to run light passenger trains fast. But theyâre still limited to the curvatures and grades that were laid out in the days of steam.
A flight between Tokyo and Osaka can be bought for about $50-60USD without too much searching for a bargain. A ticket on the slightly slower class of Shinkansen between the same cities costs around $120 USD. Of course the Shinkansen avoids most the travel costs to and from airports, is easier to organise and more convenient, but to claim the costs have come down below air-travel is simply false.
Unless you live 20 minutes from EWR and your destination is 20 minutes from Logan, like I do.
20 minutes, +1 hour for security, et. al., 1 hour flight, 20 minute car ride = 2 hours, 40 minutes.
The train ride is three hours and 45 minutes from New York to Boston. So if I need to spend an hour getting into New York like I typically do Iâm never making that 9 AM meeting. Not that thereâs a Acela that arrives into Boston until 10:05. But itâs okay, because the plane ride is typically cheaper than the $300 train ticket anyway.
But sure, if you live across the street from MSG or South Station, itâs great. But if you need to get to Cambridge or something anyway, the train is not a time saver.
I donât mind the slower route myself for the exact reasons you mention, but I do want to say that on a trip from Paris to Amsterdam via the high-speed train, while everything was going by crazy-fast, travelers are still able to take in the country at a distance. That is, if weâre considering a trip across America, it would be fun to watch the landscape change in big ways, mountains to desert to prairie, etc. While blades of grass wouldnât be discernable, the larger geographical features could certainly be enjoyed.
Really? How much advanced notice do you need and how many seats are available at such a price? (Years ago, when Kobe airport was new, I used the âBirthday Specialâ and paid only $100 for a flight from Tokyo. But of course I had to get myself all the way to Haneda airport. An hour early. Go through security. (Minimal security, unlike Narita). And then there you are stuck out on the tarmac, awaiting departure. Maybe on time. Maybe not. Arrive at an airport, which is built outside the destination city,⌠and then bus or train your way in.
I have live in Tokyo since the early 90s and when I need to go to Osaka, I just go to Tokyo station and jump on the shinkansen.
I did one search, using Webjet looking 3 weeks in advance. I specifically stated that the Shinkansen was easier to organise and more convenient.
Even after the domestication of horses most people couldnât afford one.
Passenger rail is legally supposed to take precedence over freight. In practice it doesnât; I have no idea why or how this flouting of the law by companies who depend on Federal rights-of-way to exist is allowed to continue.
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