Originally Posted by
trunk junk
I bet if this country built a competing high speed rail system many people including myself wouldnt fly the airlines at all becauase of the unpredictable nightmare airtravel has become.
Trains won't work in the US...
- Distances MUCH greater than Europe/Japan...at 300 mph (extreme upper limit) it would take 9 hours to do a transcon. More likely, max speed would be only attainable on a few isolated stretches. A 20-25 hour stranscon would be more realistic.
- Rail Cost is VERY high for maglevs. In order to achieve top speed, the lines must be nearly straight. One Billion (yes with a B) dollars per mile would not be unreasonable through mountainous terrain. The reality is that much of the rail infrastructure could not support maximum speed...this has been proven to be the case in Europe.
- Energy Costs: I haven't done the math, but airplanes enjoy very low drag in the thin air at the flight levels...trains would be pushing a lot of sea-level air out of their way. Unless you enclosed the entire track infrastructure in a vacuum tube (yes, this has been discussed). A very long train would probably enjoy an advantage, but then you get back to the frequency problem...A380 vs. narrow-body.
- NIMBY (Not in My BackYard): The need to lay new rail lines cutting directly through anything and everything in a straight line would create huge political hurdles.
- Safety: At 300 mph the trains would pose a safety hazard that would require full physical containment of the ENTIRE line system. A cow (or even a deer) could destroy a train. Even more money.
- Security: Same bomb threat as airlines, so same TSA hassles. Actually airplanes have a significant security advantage compared to trains: Above about 5000' AGL there is about zero chance that a terrorist could harm the airplane from the ground. The train does not enjoy that advantage...it flies the entire route at 3" AGL
If I were a Tango, there are a numerous things I could do to a high speed train...it wouldn't take much, a small disruption and momentum does the rest:
Climb the fence, plant a bomb on the track.
Ram the fence, park a truck on the track.
Mortar the track.
Ooops
Now we need a roof and concrete walls that can withstand an artillery attack.
Not gonna happen on a large scale.