I used to think as a child everyone in Europe is super rich. Because they always travel by planes
this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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I don't think train can compete with a long distance means of transportation that is
1- equally or less time consuming.
2- works very similarly across countries.
3- only needs infrastructure at the start and end stops instead of for the whole journey.
What we need is to figure out a way to use less polluting, carbon neutral or non-polluting fuel for airplanes, and less of it with more efficient designs.
To your last point, believe it or not, but planes are getting significantly more efficient. Huge wide-bodies like the 747 are retiring in part because airlines don't want to lug around 4 engines, when the 787 can do the same trip with 2.
The a320 neo has a much better engine than previous generations, and same thing with the 737 max (crashing problems aside).
crashing problems aside
Ok but that caveat is doing a lot of work there
Oh don't worry, planes crash no more than once in their lifetime...
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Depends on when long distance starts for you. I'm very much open to take a train across Europe if it's reasonably priced and convenient, even if it takes considerably longer. Really wouldn't mind an overnight train either for example, if they weren't so damn expensive (and constantly booked out).
Anything that's less than 3-4 hours by plane is fine by me to switch to the train for 8-10 hours imo.
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And in Paris it could cost you an extra โฌ60 or something if there's random ticket check and you can't provide that you have the ticket. As a tourist I've seen this myself in Bir-Hakeim Station. Please keep your ticket, don't throw it away!
That's how it is in most places. Or at least the places I have taken trains: Europe, Seattle, Portland, and NYC. Although in NYC they do not check for subway tickets. The regional train definitely checks though.
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In Japan, it can be cheaper to fly than to take the shinkansen (bullet train), but the trains are much more convenient. No security checks like air travel, no waiting in line for ages, no going out of the way to get to an airport (one of "Tokyo"'s airports is actually a prefecture over in Chiba), etc.
I wonder what it costs to maintain rolling stock and railway lines with their associated infrastructure.
Planes don't have to maintain bridges and level crossings on their entire route.