Interesting article in Business Week on the competition in China between high-speed rail (HSR) and traditional airlines.

From the article:

“There’s no doubt that high-speed rail will defeat airlines on all the routes of less than 800 kilometers,” said Citigroup Inc. analyst Ally Ma. “The airlines must get themselves in shape, increase their profitability and improve the network.”

She’s talking about China here, but I would think this applies to any industrialized nation with multiple large cities.

With all the problems we see with airlines in the U.S. these days - $50 baggage “fees” that pass the inefficiencies of the airline’s business model on to the customer, to cite but one example - I think I’d like to see HSR rise to compete with domestic air travel in our country.  It would force airlines to improve their models and become more efficient, and that’s a good thing.  Fares would also decrease overall, especially for international flights, which would become more numerous to make up for the losses attributed to HSR competition on the domestic side.  Sounds nice, huh?

In 1989, the Texas Legislature created an HSR project - Texas High-Speed Rail Authority (THSRA) - that would’ve connected Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio.  Southwest Airlines killed this project by 1994.  One has to wonder: How much better would our transportation options be - and how much cheaper - if HSR entered the picture?

(via flotsametrics)