https://www.google.com/maps?q=marseille+to+geneva&oe=UTF-8&h...
Considering airport transit/check-in time, that makes it pretty competitive with taking a short plane trip.
Looking at it now, there is a direct Lyria train that takes 3 and a half hours.
But still, a 45 minute flight versus 4 hours with a connection on a train at a similar cost..
Airports are usually outside of the city, train stations are usually inside the city, that is a big deal worth a couple of hours. Geneva airport is a bit more convenient, but if you are coming from Lausanne, it’s still an hour.
While I’m sure you could take that long and transfer that many times, I see a direct 3.5 hour trip for €65
You can’t really compare train travel in the US to that of Europe. The US is gigantic in comparison, Amtrak doesn’t own many of the rails they use and get delayed as a result, and airport security is atrocious to say the least.
If you’re looking at the total time to fly, getting to the airport early, going through the funhouse of “security” and then waiting for your luggage, I would imagine it’s not just 45 min.
Anyone taking a long distance train in the US is doing it out of nostalgia or out of contrarian quirkiness or just for the tourist value of it. We have an amazing interstate highway system and buses that run everywhere — yet the only people that take buses do so because they have no other choice — they would all rather fly than be packed on a bus for 12+ trips. I can go to Tokyo in that amount of time, but some people long for the ability to enjoy that length of trip to go from New Mexico to Illinois?
We should be making air travel better, not dwelling on 19th century nostalgia. However, When it comes to commuter-level travel, such as Sacramento to San Francisco or similar types of trips, then certainly rail is a great option because the economics make sense.
The other problem with trains is that as population and economic centers shift, it take years before train systems can respond — you have to actually build more track to change the system. Airplanes can change routes anytime they want (regulatory approvals notwithstanding.)
Even in Europe where trains are icons, try taking a train from Marseille to Geneva. It’s an 8 hour trip requiring two connections. It’s a 45 minute flight at a similar cost.
No normal person is going to chose an 8 hour train ride over a 45 minute flight. Even with heavy subsidization of trains by the French government, the costs are still almost identical. If you remove the subsidy, long distance trains quickly become economically ridiculous compared to airplanes.
If you were to remove the huge taxes on air travel, it would be even cheaper.
No business traveler going from LA to Chicago is going to waste days on a train if given the choice. It’s progress in my mind to eliminate transcontinental passenger trains. We should be looking up and not back.