Charles Jannuzi wrote:
>
> When you sit on one of these trains, the impression is that you are in
> something that is aerospace, only economy has more space.
>
> The advantage of the shinkansen in time is because of the airports
> locations. Airports, even in crowded, land scarce Japan, have to be located
> away from the city centers.
I haven't been following this thread -- but my experience over the last few years that in travelling by air one must add a minimum of 5 hours to the flight time, sometimes more. So for anyplace within a five hour drive auto or bus is definitely quicker than airline.
In fact I once hitch-hiked from Akron Ohio to Benton Harbor Michigan much more quickly than one could fly from Detroit to Chicago (a shorter distance). (And that included starting out in the wrong direction.) Except as a sheer necessity, airline travel stinks. I'll be flying both to New York & to D.C. in April however, and I'm more or less dreading the misery of it.
Re bus travel. Buses used to be comfortable, and I'm told some still are, but the last one I travelled by was as bad (as short of leg room etc) as airline coach seats. Back in the '50s I actually enjoyed Greyhound travel, even when it was overnight. To go from here (Bloomington Illinois) to Kalamazoo Michigan by train I have to change in Chicago, and the connections are bad, meaning I have to get up early, then bank around the station in Chicago for four hours. To fly from here to New York I have to take a s huttle to Chicago, then walk around a mile there changing gates. There's no decent way to travel anymore except on a few special routes (the D.C. to Boston train sounds attractive.)
Carrol