<Jordan Hayes>-----
> > so what about the high speed train networks in areas < to 400 miles
> > in the us ? do they exist ? are they competing with planes ? how
> > connected are they to the plane system ?
>
> Check the archives, I described it in detail last week.
sorry if my english mislead you in believing that i am not sure about the presence/absence of fast trains in the us. i know they don't exist and i know you think even if they did exist they would not compete, based on your appreciation of their lack of competitivity in europe and japan.
you basically said in previous posts that ft do not compete in europe/japan except for very short distances inf. to 200m or something like this.
and i said in the post to which you reply above that most people can't afford trips by plane. this translates as : ft are competetive in europe and japan because most people are not willing to pay the extra cost to benefit from the travel time reduction.
obviously you will find that people who take the plane even for short distances would not take the train, since they can afford it. does it mean planes are competitive ? no. it means they exist in a 'niche' market. ok, we agree that's a pretty big niche we are talking about. but that would be actually be a much smaller niche if airports actually dealt with all the 'externalities' they create: air and noise polution etc.
this is one of the reasons (i mentioned that in the same post) why most european companies/airports are trying to rationalize the number/destination of flights: there seem to be some kind of pressure to make them accountable for those externalities.
jc helary