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The difference between America and Europe, Japan, etc. is that is so spread out. To get from place A to B in an airplane you essentially just need two runways.
by macinjosh 8y ago
The difference between America and Europe, Japan, etc. is that is so spread out. To get from place A to B in an airplane you essentially just need two runways. A train needs miles and miles of expensive track that wind around the landscape between the two places. It just doesn't make sense except in densely populated areas like the Northeast.
- londons_explore 8y agoThe track itself isn't the expensive bit. It's simply steel, concrete and gravel, and probably could cost <100k per mile. It's the compulsory land purchases and expensive consultants which are the main expense.
- dx034 8y agoTrack for high speed trains can be very expensive. Unless land is very flat, it's not uncommon for >50% of track to be on bridges/in tunnels.
- taobility 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing–Shanghai_high-speed_railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing–Shanghai_high-speed_ra... The HSR between Beijing and Shanghai has 87% length are elevated.
- acchow 8y ago> To get from place A to B in an airplane you essentially just need two runways This is definitely not true. SFO's Terminal 1 cost $2.4 billion. Let's not forget the huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions from airplane fuel.