> I know there is a huge “we love trains!” crowd among urbanists but Amtrak takes longer and is FAR more expensive on most routes than planes. This is not an A

> I know there is a huge “we love trains!” crowd among urbanists but Amtrak takes longer and is FAR more expensive on most routes than planes. This is not an Amtrak problem. That's a well known trait of conventional trains. With high-speed trains running at 300km/h, there's a well known tradeoff point where high-speed rail is a far better option; up to 600km-800km. Beyond that, airplanes are still the preferable option. The higher the train speed, the longer you need to travel for air travel to become the preferable option.