High speed rail only captures a tiny fraction of the global long distance travel market, mostly centered on select corridors within Western Europe, China and Japan. Speed of rail in comparison to flying is a big factor but the cost also plays a significant part too. In most cases, a high speed rail journey from London to somewhere in Europe will cost three times as much as an equivalent journey by flying, which significantly sways the balance towards flying while providing no incentive for passengers to switch to the greener mode of travel.
If high speed rail was somehow made cheaper or flying made prohibitively expensive, then the share for rail could increase quite a bit as certain people don’t mind slightly slower journeys if they are still relatively fast or scenic. Do you think we will ever get to a point where catching a train from London to Paris, Amsterdam or Barcelona will be cheaper than an equivalent flight?
If high speed rail was somehow made cheaper or flying made prohibitively expensive, then the share for rail could increase quite a bit as certain people don’t mind slightly slower journeys if they are still relatively fast or scenic. Do you think we will ever get to a point where catching a train from London to Paris, Amsterdam or Barcelona will be cheaper than an equivalent flight?