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My impression is (for the US) that trains are the optimal way to connect major cities, while buses are good for connecting smaller cities. Ideally, of course, o
by goerz 9y ago
My impression is (for the US) that trains are the optimal way to connect major cities, while buses are good for connecting smaller cities. Ideally, of course, one would have a dense rail network connecting even small towns, as Germany does, but that's never going to happen in the US.
- ghaff 9y ago>optimal way to connect major cities Major cities that are relatively close together. The Northeast Corridor works pretty well for the most part--at least the two ends of it do. The whole thing is a full day and probably costs more than a couple hour flight. Various city pairs also work but anything longer haul has to be for the experience (or avoiding flying) even if everything goes according to schedule. NY to Chicago is about 20 hours for example. (And would be very hard to make fast because of the Appalachian Mountains.)
- goerz 9y agoSure, at some point the distances are just too great and flying is the only option
- sampo 9y ago5 hours in train is probably nicer than a 5 hour flight trip (1h to go to airport, 1h in the airport, 2h flight, 1h from airport to destination).
- wbl 9y agoWe can go straight through them if we have to. Chicago to NYC is 800 miles, and at speeds the Nanjing to Jinan line hits daily that is about 4-5 hours.