Which is why these developments (faster rail and maglev) are so exciting. They change the economics of the travel decisions, potentially putting more connection

Which is why these developments (faster rail and maglev) are so exciting. They change the economics of the travel decisions, potentially putting more connections into the "economically feasible" category. Of course, that's also dependent on construction & maintenance costs. I'd be interested to see where / if there are chances for economies of scale for maglev that are simply not there yet due to the tech's non-prevalence. If it takes only marginally more, or even less time to travel by train than by plane, I'm taking the train any day.