But there are serious plans for high speed rail in California and along the northeastern corridor (New York, DC, etc) aren't there? Those will surely have some impact on flights on those particular routes, won't they? When the channel tunnel opened it had a serious impact on London-Paris flights, and there is a lot of evidence that high speed rail is quicker than flying for journeys from city centre to city centre up to a certain distance, when you take into account time spent in traffic getting to and from the airport, and the time taken by security checks, check-in and baggage collection. Many business travellers also appreciate the ease with which they can use their computers and mobile phones during the entire train trip, the extra leg room, the freedom to walk up and down the train and to order halfway-decent coffee and food as and when they want it (as opposed to when the flight stewards with the trolleys decide to serve it). Trains actually offer US travellers the opportunity to behave more like free individuals and less like cattle - I've always felt that travelling by air is akin to transporting cattle, herded from one crowded holding pen to another through different gates at the whim of the authorities before being crammed into a cramped compartment for hours on end and fed at fixed intervals with a pre-programmed diet. I make up to 40 international flights per year, and I just wish there were viable rail alternatives for these.
