I think a lot of the HST skeptics would do well to spend some time in the northeast. In just 10 years, Amtrak has captured 75% of the traffic between NYC and DC, and over 50% of the traffic between NYC and Boston. It's phenomenal. At my office, nobody takes flights between NYC/PHL/DC anymore. Why go out to LaGuardia when you can walk over to Penn Station, enjoy WiFi and a ton of leg room, not to mention a snack car, and get there in about the same amount of time as flying? Oh, and you're dropped off right in downtown DC, instead of Reagan or in the god forsaken suburbs if you're unlucky enough to land in Dulles.
And Amtrak isn't even very good! Years of neglect and bad regulation have left the service with old cars (except Acela), crumbling infrastructure, etc. But it beats the hell out of air travel, and the differential will only get more dramatic as fuel prices continue to increase.
And Amtrak isn't even very good! Years of neglect and bad regulation have left the service with old cars (except Acela), crumbling infrastructure, etc. But it beats the hell out of air travel, and the differential will only get more dramatic as fuel prices continue to increase.