DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Unveiled: China's 245mph train service is the world's fastest

**Caunnysup** · 12-29-2009, 11:17 PM

For the much larger distances to be covered in the U.S., air travel is the way to go as far as travel time is concerned. India is one-third the size of America, and has more than 3x the population, so density dictates the use of trains for the simple reason that there just would not be enough airports to handle all the Indians wanting to travel all over their country. It is also the reason why Mumbai's suburban commuter railway service has one of the highest if not the highest passenger density in the world (per track mile). Not to mention that a lot of the Indian railway network was built out over the last 100+ years, a lot of it by the British, before the independence. The economies are totally different. The new lines such as the Konkan Railway that was built in the last decade, end up costing a whole heck of a lot more. Upgrades cost more now also. Point is that it is somewhat easier and less expensive to run a system that's already been built out to a large extent. U.S. still has the largest trackage in the world, but most of it isn't used for passenger service, because airlines provide faster (and cheaper?) route.

As far as airfare goes, due to a plethora of new airlines and new air services in the past decade, air travel has grown by leaps and bounds in India; competitor airfare is as cheap as $1 for some tickets! Of course, that means that many airlines are losing money right now. But India is one of the fastest growing air travel markets in the world right now:

AFP: India airline market seen set for fastest growth

There are plans afoot in India for HSR service in certain segments, just as China has already gone about it, and Europe certainly has.

For the numbers served, I don't think airlines could come even close to the rails.

12-29-2009, 11:17 PM	#24
Caunnysup Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 470 Senior Member	For the much larger distances to be covered in the U.S., air travel is the way to go as far as travel time is concerned. India is one-third the size of America, and has more than 3x the population, so density dictates the use of trains for the simple reason that there just would not be enough airports to handle all the Indians wanting to travel all over their country. It is also the reason why Mumbai's suburban commuter railway service has one of the highest if not the highest passenger density in the world (per track mile). Not to mention that a lot of the Indian railway network was built out over the last 100+ years, a lot of it by the British, before the independence. The economies are totally different. The new lines such as the Konkan Railway that was built in the last decade, end up costing a whole heck of a lot more. Upgrades cost more now also. Point is that it is somewhat easier and less expensive to run a system that's already been built out to a large extent. U.S. still has the largest trackage in the world, but most of it isn't used for passenger service, because airlines provide faster (and cheaper?) route. As far as airfare goes, due to a plethora of new airlines and new air services in the past decade, air travel has grown by leaps and bounds in India; competitor airfare is as cheap as $1 for some tickets! Of course, that means that many airlines are losing money right now. But India is one of the fastest growing air travel markets in the world right now: AFP: India airline market seen set for fastest growth There are plans afoot in India for HSR service in certain segments, just as China has already gone about it, and Europe certainly has. For the numbers served, I don't think airlines could come even close to the rails.
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