Mxsmanic wrote:
Matt Barrow writes:

If you think the unions helped crap out the airlines, you should dig
into how they absolutely trashed the railroads.

But high-speed rail is a reality in Europe.

When France put its first high-speed trains into service--more than a
quarter-century ago--air traffic between Paris and Lyons (the cities
served by the first line) almost instantly diminished by half. The
air traffic never recovered. Today, for trips of 1000 km or less,
high-speed trains are faster than air travel, and they are cheaper,
more efficient, and more environmentally friendly as well.

The USA isn't France. In 2005 the average airline passenger trip length was
866 miles. That's around 1393.7 km. So our average trip length is longer
than your faster cheaper target.