optimisticGiven the high level of congestion at our major airports and our desire to operate a more energy efficient transportation complex, I am similarly mystified as to why we have heard little or nothing about the development of alternative surface transportation systems for short haul journeys. At our major airports, a significant percentage of flights are to destinations less than 300 miles distant, which could readily be replaced by the modern high speed rail systems found in many countries around the world. Similarly, we could increase long haul aviation capacity to and from our major cities by linking near by airports to those cities with high speed rail links.This is a former airline executive, not some crazy foamer railfan, saying this.
And in the meantime, our current administration has continued to try and destroy what little passenger rail we have, and the Republican candidate-presumptive is an implacable foe of Amtrak who would, it seems, be delighted to make all of the trains go away. And you still hear people saying how awful it is that we subsidize rail transportation, without apparently considering the subsidies, direct and indirect, paid for other modes of transportation.
I wonder when the government will ever get the message. Considering how long it takes to build a good solid rail system, we should have started thirty years ago.