2 ms·

I don't think HSR is the future, personally. It's too centralized and inflexible, compared to flying. Any metro can plop an airport down and get some cheap rout

I don't think HSR is the future, personally. It's too centralized and inflexible, compared to flying. Any metro can plop an airport down and get some cheap routes out, and as planes get cheaper and maybe electrify, you can scale up and down routes and capacity by deploying more planes. Even laying a single HSR line is a multi billion dollar endeavor, and still doesn't solve the vast majority of actual routes. Just look at the airport departure board at any airport -- even small ones -- direct to a dozen cities hundreds or even thousands of miles away. That's never going to be achievable with rail without laying down tens of thousands of miles of rail.

Anechoic 5y ago
> Any metro can plop an airport down Development of a new runway at an existing (US) is a $billion* endeavor and can take decades.
- thehappypm 5y ago
  As a counterpoint to this, it is possible to scale existing airports up to meet consumer demand as-needed. There are thousands and thousands of airports in the US, but most don't have passenger service. Example: Paine Field in Everett (north of Seattle) became a commercial airport in 2019 to service an exploding Seattle metro. While it takes some time for regulations, it's straightforward compared to the billions needed to connect new cities with HSR.