More emphasis on trains in Europe to replace flights

Re:More emphasis on trains in Europe to replace flights by DiogenesKynikos on Saturday February 15, 2020 @01:25PM (#22336906)

200 miles is way too short for the break-even point.

If you take into account the time overhead for airplanes, the break-even point is about 4 hours. For modern high-speed rail (speeds of over 200 mph), that's about 800 miles (NYC to Chicago, or Paris to Vienna). Most European high-speed rail lines outside France and Spain don't operate at that speed yet, but it's not uncommon for newly-built high-speed lines (which is why it's common in China).

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Re:More emphasis on trains in Europe to replace flights by LatteLazy on Saturday February 15, 2020 @07:39PM (#22339063)

4 hours at 200mph is 800 miles. But no train does that over distance. Even the Japanese, with dedicated infrastructure for bullet trains and minimal political issues stop every few hundred km because they're at a city people want to get on or off at...

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Re:More emphasis on trains in Europe to replace flights by DiogenesKynikos on Sunday February 16, 2020 @04:15AM (#22340671)

The fastest Beijing - Shanghai trains take 4:18 to travel 809 miles.

The maximum speed that trains operate at in regular commercial service is 350 km/h (217 mph), so average speeds of nearly 200 mph are possible nowadays.

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