The thing is it is way more expensive to provide a train for 40 hours than a plane for 2. The plane could do 20 journeys in that time, for 20x the nominal reven

The thing is it is way more expensive to provide a train for 40 hours than a plane for 2. The plane could do 20 journeys in that time, for 20x the nominal revenue. This is why high speed rail is so good: it can actually really decrease operational costs Vs normal rail as your train, crew, station etc does 2-3x the volume of passengers, and therefore revenue, compared to slower alternatives.